Loving These Garden Fresh Tomatoes

My friend Becky is out of town on vacation called and asked me to please go pick the ripe tomatoes from her garden.

Jasper and I went a pickin' yesterday on our way home from the gym, and I have been in tomato heaven ever since. My new favorite snack is sliced tomatoes and a mozzarella cheese stick. Yum! I have even been feeding them to Jasper and he seems to like them.

Thank you Becky!

Waiting for Daddy to Come Home

Last night Jasper and I graduated from waiting inside by the door to a vigil on the porch, waiting for Mike's silver car to pull up.

I don't think that hanging out on the porch helps Mike to drive home any faster, but it does seem to help pass the time.

It is always a happy moment when Mike comes home! Once Mike is home, Jasper wants to be with him all of the time until Jasper goes to bed. If Mike has to go back out to his car to grab something after he has initially come in the house, Jasper is not too thrilled.








Jasper struck one of his favorite poses during the vigil. He stops crawling, does a 1/2 sideways turn, and comes up for a " Hey, what's going on?" moment. Sometimes he looks like he is doing a yoga move, and the rest of the time he appears to be posing for a modeling shoot. Very GQ. I was happy to capture this all too familiar pose in a photo for memory sake, as he does it 50 times per day.

We are all so glad when Daddy is home!

Male Mail Team Expands Their Services

I mentioned in a previous post about how Mike & Jasper are the founding members of the "Male Mail Team". When my dad comes to visit, he always asks if he can join the team too -- and of course the answer is YES!

I am happy to announce that the "Male Mail Team" is now offering services other than just postal pick-up. They take the trash out to the curb twice a week after they pick up the mail.

THANK YOU BOYS!

Stair Blockers

Jasper's love of the stairs seems to be increasing. If he is downstairs on his own for 5 seconds, he starts climbing the stairs. This is especially frustrating when I have just carried him DOWN the stairs. At these times, I really don't feel like climbing back up the stairs to get him, just to carry him down again.

So, I have enlisted the help of my "stair blockers". Unfortunately our stair railing is not conducive to a baby gate. Until Jasper figures out that he can simply walk right between these 2 giant red buckets, they work great! I don't usually put him inside the bins. Their mere presence is enough to deter him.

And for those of you who were worried, I did survive the Spin class, and I am going again tomorrow morning.

On a comical note, when Jasper and I walked out of the gym, we saw an ambulance parked out front. I think that the paramedics were inside working out, but I got a good laugh thinking they were there just in case I overdid it in class.

Back in the saddle again

Tomorrow I am starting my 2 week free trial membership at Gold's Gym. We used to go to 24 Hour Fitness near our old house and it was a beautiful gym and we loved it. The 24 out here is a little too scary for me to get excited about. I used to love to go for walks with Jasper, but let's be honest, it is just too hot here to get excited about that for 1 minute.

Jasper & I went checked it out the gym this afternoon after lunch at Firehouse Subs with Mike. A major bonus is that you don't have to pay for child care while you work out. I took Jasper into the child care center and it is really big and really clean -- which was a nice surprise. It was also pretty empty, which was also a surprise. We looked around for a minute and then when we went to leave he started to cry because he wanted to stay and play. The girls that work there seem super sweet, so I left Jasper there to play with them and the 3 other kids while I finished the tour and sales pitch. Jasper loves to be with other kids, so I think he will enjoy his time at the gym quite a bit.

I am hitting the 8:30 AM spin class tomorrow and I am 100% positive that I am going to "feel the pain". Just to illustrate how out of shape I am...tonight while I was getting my stuff out, Jasper's stuff out, etc., Mike said, "Are you nervous about going to spinning tomorrow?" :>

Why would Mike say this? Maybe because I shared with him that when I got my cycling shoes (pictured above) down from the tip top shelf in the far corner of the closet, not only were they dusty, but there was an actual spider web across them. Now that's just sad. Back in my glory days I used to be a spinning instructor at the Gold's Gyms in Provo. Those were the days!

The gym also has a dark, cool room with loud speakers called the "CardioTheater" where they play movies projected onto the wall. Anything that can be described as "cool" and "dark" in the summer in Las Vegas sounds great to me.

One day, when I am less frustrated about the car salesman tactics of the sales guy I might post about, but I am too incensed now. I will share one line with you. After sitting through 20 minutes of the power point presentation I have the nerve to ask, "Can we just get to the part where you tell me how much a membership will cost?" My sales guy says, "Oh, so it's just all about money for you". Implying that you really can't put a price on fitness. I say, "Well Ray, yeah, it is about money. I am on a budget, and I like to spend my money wisely, so yes, I would like to know how much money it will cost me to work out here. Is that okay to ask?" Like I said...don't get me started.

If I survive my class I'll let you know how it goes. :>

How can I help you?

Do you need some extra help around your house?
Look no further. You've found your man!
Jasper has MANY services that he can offer you around the house.

Do you need someone to chew on every item that can partially fit in a mouth to make sure it is a sturdy & good product? Jasper can meet your needs, and add in a bonus of drool covering the item so you know it has been tested. And...he never complains about what the item being tested tastes like.
Do you lay awake at night wondering if all of cupboards and drawers in your kitchen and bathroom can open and close ALL of the way? Jasper can help put your mind at ease.
Have you ever wondered if the soap dispenser in your dishwasher is opening and closing properly? Jasper definitely has you covered on this one. He offers his 100 point inspection, where he will PERSONALLY open and close the soap dispenser in your dishwasher 100 times to make sure it is up to par. This is peace of mind that really you really can't put a price on.
Is your dishwasher too empty to run a load? Jasper can add random items to your dishwasher (like a string of caribeaners) to help you have a full dishwasher so you can run wash those dishes guilt free.


Are you 100% sure that your dishwasher racks can slide in and out and in again on the rolling tracks? This is something that Jasper can test for you.
Are you concerned that your railing is not stable? Do you wish that someone could come in and really rattle the bars with a full 19 lbs of strength? This is big client pleaser and Jasper doesn't see it as demeaning work at all.
Do you feel like your kitchen is a little too tidy, and that your house would look more "lived in" if you had a few items strewn across the floor? This is a service where Jasper really excels.
Jasper is offering a FREE a free trial of all of the services listed above.
Please let us know if you are interested.

Thank you!

Sure love my Mike

Late one night last week I was decluttering the kitchen island and I found a small pad of hot pink post-it notes. I was going to just toss them and be done with my decluttering.

Instead, I decided to be the sweet, fun loving wife that I sometimes am and leave a little message of love for my sweetheart to see in the morning.

Mike works so hard to provide for our family and is a great husband and father. I feel like I need to recognize him more.

LOVE YOU SWEETHEART!

Silly faces and funny noises

Jasper seems to always have a new noise or face that he is making.

His current favorite face is where he sucks his lips into a small circle when he is really excited about something and makes a Darth Vader kind of breathing noise.

His other favorite current noise is a clickety-clack when he clicks his tongue at the roof of his mouth. This another noise he makes when he is really excited about something.

Mom's Keys

I mentioned before that Jasper loves the stairs and the railing. One thing that the stairs and the railing have in common is my keys. In an effort to keep track of my keys, I keep hang them on the downstairs railing, on the way out the back door.

Jasper LOVES to climb up to the 4th step and play with my keys. He rattles them. He bangs them. He pulls on them...hard. They bring him joy.

Storytime with Daddy

These are the sweet moments that I always want to remember.

During the week, Mike & Jasper don't really get to spend that much time together, so Mike really tries to make every minute count when he is home.

This "Bedtime Peekaboo" book is one of Jasper's current favorites. Problem is, he likes it so much that he has torn 3 of the lift-off peekaboo pages out. Luckily it is a board book, so I have just taped the cardboard laminated pages back in with some heavy duty packing tape. It is now a true children's book -- torn pages and all.

Do you have any great kids books to recommend?

Teeth

My dad always says -- Take a picture of Jasper's teeth for me.
Well dad -- that is not an easy thing to do.

I actually snapped a couple shots of "the teeth" by accident.

As far as I can tell, Jasper has 4 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom. His last tooth to come through was his right front tooth.

Pool #3

Finally, pool #3.

I bought this pool a few weeks ago. Jasper & I had just returned home from the cool breezes of the Beaver mountains to the 117 degree heat in Las Vegas. As we walked though the pool section we noticed that everyone we passed had this pool in their cart. I decided that we did not need it, took 5 steps, and then turned back for an impulse purchase.

Then the obvious problem arose -- where are we going to put it. It is 10 ft x 6 ft, larger than our patch of fake grass. No problem, we copied our friends and built a wood platform on the rocks. After a late night trip to Lowe's for the supplies, and some drilling and assembly by Mike, we were ready to go.

We placed one tarp on top of the platform and use the other big tarp for the pool cover. It is NOT pretty, but it works.

Jasper LOVES to crawl up an down the pool. This pool is a winner because he can stand up and hold onto the sides, but he can't get out...yet.

Pool #2

I bought this little beauty at CVS last year for $1 at the end of the summer. I thought, "How can you go wrong for $1?"

Well, we had a few problems.

#1 Our backyard is not even, so the pool literally had a deep end and a shallow end. It was very lopsided. It was so bad, that I resorted to using rocks to hold the side up.

#2 Jasper liked to pull the side of the pool down and let the water out. This was our biggest problem.

























There were a few great things about this pool too.

#1 Jasper loves to splash, and he could really get his game on in this little pool. I am including photos of two of his best splashes. One where he splashed so hard it went in his face and gave him a little scare. He doesn't know his own splash strength.

#2 Jasper's favorite pool activity besides splashing is to crawl in circles and chase things. Mostly whatever bath toys I bring out, but my empty water bottle or cup will do just fine.

The water in this pool was low enough that he could crawl without taking in too much water. I included a photo of what I call his "low crawl". This is his depth limit where he can chase the toys and still not swallow a gallon of water.

Pool #1

This was a Wal-Mart special that was a super starter pool for our tiny man. It is affectionately known as the teeny tiny pool.

We knew it was time to upgrade because:

#1 It really was teeny tiny. We could both fit, but couldn't move around much.

#2 Jasper could crawl out, or stand up and pick up rocks to eat. So, we decided to upgrade.

On the plus side, it really helped Jasper be comfortable moving around in water and even going under water.