I finally dared...

For years I have wanted to cut my hair and always chicken out once I get to the hair salon. This time I decided I had to be brave and went in and cut off 10 inches, (gasp)! I only cut my hair about once a year beacause the girl I go to lives in Utah. She tried to help ease the nerves by encouraging me to donate it to Locks of Love. So I'm going to do that. So here are the before and after pictures. Not the best pictures because Logan took the before and I took the after. I really like it so hopefully when I do it myself I can get the same results.

Looking at it from a different angle

I got this off of a friends blog, (thanks sarah.) It was touching to me to read this. Especially since we've had a few trying moments since Brandon left. I just need to keep in mind the big picture and that 99% of the time my kids are amazingly wonderful. It's the 1% that always seems to kick my butt.

THE PRICE OF A CHILD

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 to be $160,140 for a middle income family.

Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.

It translates into:
*$8,896.66 a year, or
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is "if you want to be 'rich', don't have children. Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading "The Adventures of Piglet and Pooh" ,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish upon a star. You also get to:
* frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets,

and collect:
* spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas,
* hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and
* cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no bigger bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to witness history:
* her first step,
* his first word,
* her first bra,
* his first date, and
* their first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs called grandchildren and great grandchildren in your obituary.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have the power to:
* heal a boo-boo,
* scare away the monsters under the bed,
* patch a broken heart,
* police a slumber party,
* ground them forever, and
* love them without limits... so that one day they, like you, will love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!

Love & enjoy your children, grandchildren & great grandchildren

Pictures of our week

Here are just a "few" pictures of what we've been up to these last few days. It's been a whirl wind of fun. Brandon flew home this morning and we're here for about 3 more weeks. I'm having nightmares that this is going to be like our 4th year of med school. Hopefully not!

We have a few more fun things planned but for the most part it's mellowed out quite a bit.

We went boating with some good friends of ours and had a blast. Brandon got up on his 3rd attempt at wake boarding. The boy's wanted to be thrown off of the tube so when Brandon was riding with them he threw them in the lake. Logan loved it, Porter didn't.

We've loved being with our family and going to yummy restaurants that we've missed dearly.

Art city day's was celebrated while Brandon was here. It's Springville cities celebrations. We went to the balloon fest, the children's art fair, the carnival, parade and the fire works all this week. I love this week every year and I'm so glad that we didn't have to miss it. The weather could have been better but it was still fun.

Home sweet Home

We're here in Utah, YAY! We drove 27 hours straight through, and everyone survived. Brandon has fallen completely and totally back in love with Utah and I don't think he ever wants to leave. We've been running nonstop it feels like, trying to see everyone and do everything Brandon wants to do before he flies back on Sunday. We're having a blast and I will post pictures soon. We got to meet our sweet nephew Chad and got some great pictures of him and Olivia holding hands. The boys love being able to run around in back yards and playing in dirt galore. We've had a couple of melt downs from lack of sleep, but other than that we are so HAPPY to be here in this great state we still call home.

An early Father's Day

For Father's Day the boys and I wanted to take Brandon to a baseball game. Lucky for us the Red Sox were coming into town before leaving for Utah, and since we won't be here for father's day, it worked out. It was a lot of fun and the boys and Brandon had a great time. Olivia wasn't thrilled with any part of it, but we made it to the 8th inning which is pretty good for us. Comerica Park is a really nice stadium, they had a carousel in the park and a ferris wheel, and very clean bathrooms:)
Logan and Porter spent the majority of the time looking for the mascot tiger. Logan got quite upset when it was getting time to go and he still hadn't seen him in person, (instead of on the scoreboard thing.)

Porter's look of deep concentration while he's looking for the tiger.

Olivia's "thrilled" face. Our seats were at the top and the wind was blowing and we weren't the best prepared and she let us know it.

Brandon was worried we wouldn't get good parking so we ended up getting there an hour early, we had to find things to entertain us and luckily there weren't a lot of people around us so the boys could move around a little bit.

The carousel ride. The guy in green was a paid photo guy who takes pictures and then posts them on the website. I'll have to go and see what they look like.

Playing on the big Tiger outside the stadium.

We had a great time and were so happy to celebrate our dad. Brandon is such a great dad and husband. He doesn't mind working right beside me and helping me out by doing dishes, changing bums, mopping, playing with the boys, he really does it all. The boys love it when he comes home, and if he's grumpy they just understandingly say, "daddy did you not sleep very good?" When they see his car pull up after work they yell, "daddy's home, HIDE!" They love playing with him. Olivia loves her daddy too, she loves to get his attention by staring at him until he'll look her way and then giving him her best smile.

Brandon's a great dad, a great husband and does such a good job at providing for our family. We love you babe, have a happy father's day:)