Broken Bones

We officially have the first broken bone of the Yakos kids.  And wouldn't you know it, it was the one year old that did it.  Our very adventurous & strong Danica decided to climb out of her crib on Monday.  Two days before she had climb out of her play pin.  But the sides on that were much lower on the play pen & she had since slept in the crib & not attempted the climb.

Well, eventually she decided to take on the taller walls of the crib & went for it.  I heard a big thud during her nap & went up to see what had happened.  And there she was on the floor crying.  I checked all her limbs & nothing seemed to be bothering her.  So we went on  with life.  Later that night I noticed she was favoring her wrist.  I checked her arm, wrist & fingers again & nothing seemed to be killing her.  So I wrapped her wrist thinking it was just a sprain.  Well after two days the sprain was not getting better... at all.  So I took her into the doctor.  You guessed it, broken bone.

Actually it's fractured, & it's the middle of the small bone in her forearm (not her wrist at all... & that's why I'm not a doctor).  She has to wear this huge cast for a month.  So far she's doing fine with it.  She still is trying to climb on things & run.  She hasn't gotten overly frustrated with her cast, but has a tough time getting comfortable to go to sleep.  At the end of it all she will have a funny tan & I think an amazing right shoulder muscle.  But I don't think this will slow her down one bit!

Maddie & Gracie's Fair

This past week has been fair week around here.  Our church has two food booths at our fair.  They raise funds for the year for our children & youth ministries.  For the past 10 years of our lives Josh & I have had fair week dedicated to working the food booths.  The shifts are long & the weather hot, but it's all worth it to see the programs, trips, & projects our kids & young people are able to do at church.

At the 2011 Western Montana Fair Josh's dream of our booth serving giant turkey legs came true.  Our children's pastors jumped right on board when Josh mentioned the idea, & this year the idea became reality.  This was kind of a big moment because Josh had been dreaming about it for four years.  The moment he sunk his teeth into the smokey, juicy monstrosity he was happy.  And though the fair is fun & crazy busy our own kiddos kinda get jipped.  Because after working shift Josh & I just don't got it in us to really enjoy the fair with them.  We're hoping to hit a smaller fair later in the month for the family fair experience.

On Wednesday night we took our kids to the fair, it was the only evening neither one of us was working.  We took them through all the animal barns & bought way too much yummy fair food.  Of course the thing that was lacking was rides.  Unfortunately we had to decline rides.  For one, we will take them on rides at the smaller fair we attend later on.  Secondly, they cost way too stinking much!  For Josh & the twins to ride the ferris wheel would have been $14!  The next day we had to head out the ranch to get a few things & catch up on bills.  So the twins spent the entire afternoon creating their own fair, they had fair on the brain.

Their fair included rides & it was all free so everyone could participate.

There were concessions with lemonade & goldfish crackers.

Danica especially enjoyed that part of the fair.

And there were games where old toys served as "prizes".

A petting zoo was the cherry on top.  It included one chicken, despite much begging from the twins for me to go up in the mountains & track down the horse herd so I could bring a horse back for the zoo.  The one chicken proved to be enough as it did escape once & I had to catch it.

I think the kiddos had more fun at this fair than the actually fair.  And the whining & begging was absent, hooray!  Homemade is always best, isn't it.

Day Trip

The last two weeks of July were Josh's "vacation".  Of which he spent all his time working on our new house. We took one afternoon off & did something fun as a family.  One thing our family loves is ghost towns.  I know it's weird, but our kids love going to ghost towns.  And there happens to be a really great one called Garnet close to the ranch.  So we grabbed some lunch & headed out.

Garnet is way, way up in the mountains north of our ranch.  It is an old mining town & is the best preserved ghost town in the state.  This is on the drive down, you can see how high up we are.  It amazes me that back in the 1800's people made their way this deep in the mountains & built a community.

The kids ran from building to building exploring what was inside.

Double seater outhouses are always intriguing.

And make for good photos.

Gracie took this shot.

It was a fun afternoon & a good break from dry-walling.

Fishing Day

House renovations, living in two places, & trying to wrangle four children has pretty much consumed my Summer.  Team that with not having computer access at our new place (yes, I still have an immobile PC... I'll get a laptop, someday...someday) & you get very few blog updates.  I've been at the ranch since yesterday afternoon & am trying to catch up on some blogging.

A few weeks ago my Dad took the twins fishing via horseback up behind our ranch.  Joshie really wanted to go, but since his horseman skills are a little immature he had to stay home with Mom.  I told him I would take him on our own fishing trip.  So I outfitted him with a creel, an ice fishing pole (because it's short), & a bobber.  That's right, no hooks involved.  Which didn't matter much because I took him to a pond about 75 yards from the house that has absolutely no fish in it.

Danica joined us & we spent most of the time changing the bobber on JoJo's pole from a little red & white bobber to a much larger orange & white bobber.  Then he would cast into the water, wait a few seconds, reel it in & I'd say "Darn it, that fish got away!"  To which he would reply "Darn it!"

That lasted for about 20 minutes & then we ate the lunch that JoJo had prepared.  A banana & peanut butter sandwich, most of which ended up in the pond to feed the "fish".  We didn't catch any fish (shocking, I know) but the two little ones had a blast anyway.

Later that afternoon the twins came back with their bounty.   A bunch of very, very small fish.  They were so proud & even though I'm not overly fond of fish I said I would fry them up for everyone to feast on.

So they cleaned all the fish up with Grandpa & I fried a bunch of them up with butter & garlic & good seasonings.  I de-boned them all so no little bones would choke one of my kiddos & then I set the feast before them.  And, the twins decided they didn't like fish... awesome.  Lesson learned, for me that is.

Actually, Danica ate the most fish.  Of course that girl will eat anything.  She finished off her day by "playing" in the sprinkler.  At least we know she's hydrated.

We Have Closets People

Since we've been married Josh & I have had to share a closet... a little closet.  It hasn't been easy & sometimes it hasn't been pretty.  But it's been worth it all because now we each have out own personal closet!  When we bought the house the closet space was just one big open area with a large pole down the middle supported by non-secured two by fours.  I think this space was always intended to be his & hers closets, after all there are two doors.  But in the 36 years of its existence no one has ever finished the closet space.

Well, Josh fixed that!  It took him 3 days & even working through the flu (That's right, the flu.  Our whole family got it... in the middle of summer... in the middle of a remodel... in the middle of a church road trip to Portland... not fun.)

 Here is my side, didn't my hubby do a great job!?  He even put lighting under the shelves- love it!  Soon I will adorn it with some hooks & a pole & all my clothing & shoes.  What I really love is that wall there, that wall that keeps all his stuff on his side & allows him to be messy & me to be anally organized.  It's perfect!

And here's Josh's side (now you know what I'm talking about).  He did our shelving according to our individual needs & taste.  I couldn't be happier with my closet space... my very own closet space.

To Mend or Not to Mend, That is the Question

UPDATE: Well, the votes are in & an overwhelming 62% said to burn the shorts.  You have no idea how happy I am!  Josh appreciates the support of the other 37%, valiant effort.

Since I've known him Josh has had this awful pair of cut-off jean shorts.  He wore them before we started dating, but they dissapeared for many years until after we were married for a while.  One summer a few years back they reappeared & I took the first opportunity I got to hide them deep back in the closet.  I should have burned them, but I felt a little bad about destroying them without Josh's consent.   I know, I know, I'm such a softie (stop laughing, I could be a softie if I wanted to).

A few weeks ago somehow Josh found his long lost cut-offs again.  You think of all the things that could be in storage right now his shorts would have been at the top of the list.  Instead I'm stuck without a DVD player or drinking glasses, but Josh somehow has his hideous shorts.  I think these shorts are disgusting.  The cut is like that of early 90's mom shorts (& if you were even remotely conscious in the early 90's you know what I mean).  Not much embarrasses me, but if I'm with Josh & any other living soul is around to see him I turn red.

I thought my luck had turned the other day when his precious mom shorts ripped all along the back pocket.  He begged me to sew them & I refused.  Later I thought, "Maybe it's just me, maybe the shorts aren't so bad".  & then I laughed & said to myself "Yeah right, those shorts are horrible!"  But I like to remain open to other opinions & thoughts, so I'm putting the ball in your court.  What do you think, should I mend the shorts or should I put them out of their misery once & for all.  Place your vote on the poll to the right & help me close this chapter on my life (I don't want to be 60 & still struggling with these stinkin' shorts!)  Comments are welcome as well, I want as much feedback as possible!