What are we doing?

You might be asking yourself what are the Harris' doing. Laying around! My foot is still telling my head that it hurts. So I have been doing the least amount of anything I can. The kids are loving it because that means I don't check to see if their room is clean, I just tell 'em to do it. Right now they are watching Country Bears for the second time. Justin is busy though. Work is keeping him on his toes. He has been asked to enter some of his photo's in downtown Flagstaff's Artwalk. He is getting all the photo's ready and needs to hang them today. I am very proud of him. It is not easy putting yourself out there like that. I can't wait to see all of them up and looking good. School is gonna start soon and I need to get Keaton back in the groove of things. There were quite a few things that he did in school that weren't his favorite. He needs to be nudged a little to get it done, I guess that makes me the nudger. Any good suggestions for nudging him to read and practice handwriting?

OUCH!

I figured if I am going to have to use these for awhile I might as well make them pretty!

Sorry about the pedicure! You gotta love the Birkenstocks!

This is after 3 days of icing and elfanting my foot. The color is starting to come in.

I can't find either of my ankle bumps. The doc says that it is a major sprain, might be a hairline fracture if nothing changes or gets better. Oh, I was at the stake center for the ususal tuesday volleyball. When I went for the ball I rolled my ankle and landed on the floor. There are some wonderful women that helped me not faint and moved me off the court so the rest could keep playing. Bummer that it is my right foot and I can't drive my new(to me) car. It is raining outside. You know how in Mesa when it rains the gutters fill up and it is kinda stagnant for awhile, that is until the sun come out and dries it all up. Well up here it rains and rains and for some reason (maybe the downhill that everyone lives on) the gutters rush with the water and in 5 minutes all the water is washed away. Down to the underground river. It is really amazing.

And I say Hello

You say goodbye

It's Raining

It's pouring

The old man is snoring

Our 4th

It was so exciting to have a day off and be able to be together. The kids were very excited about the parade and the fireworks. I milked that for all that it was worth, "if your room is not clean you won't go to the parade. Quit the attitude or you won't go to the parade. If the silver isn't polished you won't go to the parade." Oh now I sound like I belong in Cinderella. oops.

The parade started at 10 and lasted 2 hours. There were lots of groups that I never saw down in the valley. Like the Search and Rescue teams and the Lumberjacks.

The kids liked the candy but we were closer to the end and the larger group of kids were on the other side of the street. Towards the end of the parade the floats were handing out waters and squirting people with water bottles and water guns. That was much appreciated.

We didn't remember our camera for the fireworks. We met the Merrells out in Williams to watch the fireworks. Flag had cancelled the show in town because of fire danger. I now must quote my friend Kelly,

"Jethro will have his 20 gallon tank, what could go wrong?" I think that is what the town meetin must have sounded like when they decided that lighting explosives in a tinderbox sounded like a fabulous idea. All the while as trees are bursting into flames patriotic melodies are filling the air behind us. When the romping up beat tempo of Yellow Rose of Texas came on, I just lost it. Just the fact that I was sitting there watching threes be engulfed in flames while the rousing rendition of Deep in the heart of Texas blasted from the rodeo stands was too much. I couldn't take it anymore. Jason and I started to laugh. We imagined the town meeting "After we get the fire out lets line everyone up in the center of town and dance around a pile of rattlesnakes!" Jason said in his best hick accent."

Gotta love Kelly!

But yes, the fireworks were going for a good 5 minutes (starting 15 minutes late). During a pause (which was actually the end of the show) we saw the burning brush behind the launch site. It looked small from our angle. But no it took a day to get the blaze contained. You know they always say that it could start a fire. Never really thought it could actually happen. This 4th was definantly memorible

Have you ever wondered....

.....what a moving fan looks like when you take a picture.

I end up with some of the ....., lets just say when Keaton gets ahold of the camera......, I wonder what goes on in that busy little brain of his.

Magic Hair

Quite awhile ago my sister-in-law mentioned her side of the family has magic hair. I have been trying since then to get a picture of Nellie in the morning. I would have to say Alison that Nellie does in fact have Magic Hair.

I need one of those 3-d camera things like they have for houses or rooms so that you can get the full effect of the hair. This is in no way tampered, prepared or otherwise handled hair. This is Nellie in her natural beauty fresh from slumber.

yexkpskh

yexkpskh

I have been talking to a Jewish friend lately so when I saw this encryption for Alison's blog I was trying to figure out which Jewish holiday is it. You know it seems that all those holiday's are about food. I think I would like to be Jewish. If not that then pagan. They had good holiday's too. Also many about food and good weather.
Yes rambling but I figure that I haven't rambled on here for awhile and all y'all miss that part of my personality. Is it actually a personality trait to not have anything important to say but you still chatter on and on. I think it might be because often you will find people that do this frequently during conversations. Speaking of conversations the Ashcrofts came up this past weekend. That is great we love them and Keaton cried when he woke Sunday morning to find them already gone. Well, Justin had also invited Matt and Tanya over for dinner on Saturday. Here is a riddle: What do you get when you have Kat, Justin and Tanya in the same room? The answer: not a word in edgewise. I don't know if they have alot to say and not very many opportunities to share, or if they just like to hear themselves talk, or they think that others might not care to share but try to but in. I dare you. I will be on the sidelines with the bandages. They ususally have interesting conversations. Usually they have great insite and it is not a waste of time to listen to them but unless you have what it takes (James Fowler) I wouldn't try it. That is (James Fowler) there are rules to the conversation. One of which is you must try and respect all views of a situation. There is not always agreement but alot of respect.

I think I ran out of words. Until next time my dear followers of the rambling words.

Nellie Rai on the 4th of July

Sometimes Some Things Strike me Funny

Sorry Mom, This ones for you Kat

1st attempt

Leslie insists this is the wave of the future. So I thought I would try it. Here is my first attempt at digital scrapbooking. Please give me suggestions (good and bad).

Hooked up

I need to give you the link to check all of
Justin's great photo's!
He is adding stuff weekly if not daily. So check it out!

The Bane of my high altitude existence

The CURSE has lifted

Yes bread. It has been 11 months living at a high altitude. These are the first loaves to turn out this beautiful, under 20 lbs, and edible. Mom helped me figure out a few of my issues last time she was here. Like pre-heating really does make a difference, and pan size, and rising time, and yeast temperature, and quantity of dough. I can now rest with a sense of satisfaction.

Home Remedy

Keaton has had limited experience with red ants. Unlike his parents who grew up with them as neighbors. Since moving up to flagstaff the boys have located a red ant hill in our neighbor John's yard. They like to go over and kill them with their friends. They have come to the conclusion that if they were to be bitten by a red ant the extremity would swell up with poison and eventually turn red like the ant and fall off. The other day while talking to Mom, Keaton comes into to room with a dire look on his face. He tells me that he was bitten by a red ant. I (being the loving and sympathetic mother that I am) wanted to tell him to suck it up. Instead I said, "Here tell Nana." Nana told him the old home remedy of baking soda and water. Just a little she said then mix it like play dough and put it on the bit. After I finished talking to Nana I went into the kitchen and saw this...

Yes it looks like the children in the neighborhood are bad examples. Or my son is the dealer. Either way this is pure stuff.

My question is, how big could that ant really have been?

I FIXED IT!!

My brakes that is, not the whole car. Every time we would drive down to Mesa we would have our brakes checked and we would ask them if we had another trip to Mesa on them. We did. This last trip the brakes started to intermittently scrape. I decided it needed done. The hardest part was taking the tire off and then putting it back on. Totally worth the savings. Those illustrious savings are going toward the real fix it guy who will figure out why it is stalling as I drive. I think it is about time to say good bye to our wonderful friend the Dodge Caravan (96) and look into something a little newer.
After a hard day working on the car, taking care of (yelling at) the kids, yard work, cleaning house... I fixed dinner. Yes very monochromatic, but what can I say it got cooked then eaten. I was not in the mood for presentation.

Alone Man in the Wilderness

The kids and I were down in the valley this last week and a half. We went to Kaisa's baptism. What a lovely girl. (Don't I sound like her old aunt) We also helped Nana clean out some of her furniture and sewing supplies. When I heard that the work had to be done. I knew that I was the girl for the job (of getting the stuff she didn't want). Here are some pictures of what Justin did while we were gone.

Nellie Turns 2

Mother MAY I

My mom has reminded me a few times to update. I will try to remember all the fun we have had but it's late, no guarantee.

Today we went to Noah Merrell's birthday party. It was a blast. I was totally impressed at Vonessa's party hostessing skills.

Yesterday was the first official day of summer for the boys. They have been so patient. Sam can't wait for the summer to be over so that he can go to kindergarten and be at Keaton's school. They got to play with Avery and Laynie Brown most of the day. I was able to go to the Prescott mall to train for my new job. It was worth the trip to learn what I needed to know. I could not have learned it without seeing it. However Prescott was not as close as I pictured. 204 miles round trip.

Thursday to celebrate the last day of school for Keaton we went and saw Shrek the Third. It was a very cute movie. We were some of the last people there so we got to sit in the very front row. It worked out well for Nellie who liked to walk around and dance. The rest of us? Not so much fun.

Tuesday Keaton's class was going on a field trip to the bowling alley. Sam, Nellie and I grabbed the stroller and went with. We walked from the school to the bowling alley. Played a round (Sam did an awesome job with the 7 pound ball. He his most of the pins every time.) then walked to our neighborhood park for lunch and to play. It was a fun day and worth it to come back to school after a 4 day weekend.

Last week was Sam's special week. He graduated from Head Start. There was a wonderful ceremony were the children said their names and their parents names and then what they wanted to be when they grew up. Sam was very well composed and spoke well. He would like to be a firefighter. Some of the other kids wanted to be princesses, a mailbox, and a monkey. There are quite ambitious children in that class. The parents were invited to stay for a little reception afterwards. There was snack and wonderful company of the children.

The next day the school provided a BBQ at the park. It was fun too. The staff of Sam's school really care about the children and the families. It has been a hard year for them, with quite a bit of turn-over. They have excelled and made a huge difference in more than 87 children's lives.

Justin and I have been married for 10 years. Yea us!

Nellie is officially 2. On her birthday we went to Sam's class and Keaton's class to share gifts with all the children. It was a foam smiley face glued on a craft stick. She loves to play at each class. As each of the classes sang "Happy Birthday" to her she found the nearest table and ran around it. I guess she was dancing and thought every one should conga with her. Oh well. The big kids thought she was adorable. That night we went out and got her a new bike so she can be big like her brothers. (ok it isn't really a bike, I don't think it is even in the same category but that is what she calls it and that makes it ok. It is a little Dora singing ride along toy) She also got an ice cream cake with her name on it. What fun!

Mom came to visit. Our first official long stay visitor. I think my family ate better and was treated better than any other time while my mom was here. I wanted her to think life was always like that. I think I had her fooled with all the good cheer and dinners that consisted of more than one food group. We loved having her visit.

Justin turned 32 years old. He is one year older and wiser too. Happy Birthday to you.
32. He has nice hair
31. He sings very well
30. He writes wonderful poetry
29. He is dedicated
28. When he loves it is with his whole heart
27. He likes U2
26. He likes music
25. He is an awesome reader (he reads books I would never attempt)
24. He loves his children
23. He is an awesome cleaner (he cleans things I would never attempt)
22. He is a great cook
21. He loves garlic
20 He is 1/4 Italian
19. He looks like his dad
18. He speaks Russian
17. He likes to drive
16. I like the way he walks
15. He has a distinct cough
14. He cares for others
13. He wants to make a difference in the world
12. He hates traffic
11. He knows all the short-cuts
10. He likes to talk (more than I do)
9. He likes fashion
8. He likes big breakfast's with lots of meats
7. I think he is cute
6. He is not very patient when he wants something
5. He writes in only capital letters
4. He likes a clean house
3. He works hard
2. His children love him
1. I love Justin