All Work and No Play

Quite the contary. Sometimes if you want something bad enough you find a way to make it happen. I had to admit that our "homeownership to do list" is still rather lengthy, but we put that part of our life on hold and managed to squeeze in some good times. Now that sounds more like the Watsons. We pawned off the kids to Aunt Lyss and Janelle. YEAH!! It looks like they had a way too much fun. Aunt Lyss let them swim for hours, taught them to pee pee in the bushes, made wishes blowing dandilions, met fun college kids (Yes it's true my children met Alyssa's latest fling before me), took over Janelle's treats all while Little Lady just stayed afloat. Basically Aunt Lyss did what all great Aunties do. . . .spoiled them rotten. No wonder they love her. Thanks Aunt Lyss and Janelle.

Tim and I headed up the Canyon for a great ride. I was enjoying my uphill climb when an older, "huskier" lady passed me. She appeared to be much more experienced on the bike. My logic dosen't really make sense but I came to that conclusion as a result of her great calve muscles. . .You better believe that I stepped it up a knotch. What was a leisure bike ride all the sudden turned into quite a work out. After being passed up I peddled my heart out. Hopefully that will be the last time I'm passed up on the trail. :) I can't tell you much about Tim's ride . . . only that he looked pretty beat by the time we met at the bottom. He was a bit more ambitous than I was and conquered the mountain. At the end of the day there is still plenty of "to do's" to accomplish. I'm pretty sure it will all be sitting there for me in the morning. All work*NO play*NO WAY!

Home Ownership

When we purchased our first home we were clueless as to all the work that goes into owning a home. One of my parents strong points was raising children that have an excellent work ethic. I remember every Saturday morning we were up early. . . .early working. . . we played hard, but the playing went on well after our inside/outside jobs were completed. At the time I thought my parents had a bundle of children so they could have 5 little slaves to do all the work. Their job was to sit around, drink lemonade and crack the whip. Now that I have 4 little slaves of my own, I am pretty sure it is easier to do all the work myself than it is to prompt them continually to pick up just a few toys. Did I say prompt. . . I meant spank some bum bums! So good job mom and Dad getting us to work~work~work! That takes a lot of work in and of itself and even with 5 little slaves I'm pretty sure that there was plenty left over work for you!

Now that Tim and I own our 2nd home it feels a bit overwhelming. The list of to do's is endless. . . .cut the grass. . . weed the flower beds. . . rake the lawn. . . . Yeah, you read that right, rake the lawn??. .. . I had never heard of that one before. . . the Park City Johnson tell me it's necessary for a beautiful lawn. I'm still a Barrett women at heart. . .I've got to have the most beautiful lawn on the block. . . . aerate. . . .kill that clover. . . . clean the garage. . . plant flowers, wash cars, clean the inside. . . .keep Tim from napping. . .the list goes on and on. . . . My Saturday is about gone just thinking about this never ending list. . .To be honest with you I'd much rather pawn the kids off to Auntie Lyss and go biking. For all you homeowners out there. . .Don't work toooo hard! And for all you renters if you're in the market to purchase call and I'll give you mine! :) OK. . Tim will even get you a great loan to go with it...but you may have to change a few diapers as payment. :) Happy Saturday!

Bye-Bye Diapers!

It's time! We have officially thrown out all the Alexander and Barrett Diapers and moved onto the dreaded task of potty training. There is definitely no turning back. NO diapers during the day! NO diapers while we are out! NO diapers during Nap! And NO diapers at night! Good-Bye Diapers! So far Alexander's potty record is 5 for 6 and Barrett is 5 for 5. Not bad for a bunch of trouble makers. :) Max had preschool this morning, I farmed Jacq out, and I literally pumped the two full of liquid this morning. We have been hovered around the potty all day. Hopefully they can keep up the good work. Any one have potty training ideas?? I need a back up plan. This mom is done with Big Boy Diapers. :)

A Picture Says A Thousand Words ~ Las Vegas, NV

VEGAS! YEAH! We decided to take a little drive down to "family friendly" Las Vegas. :) What a vacation it has been with our little ones. Below are our Vegas highlights. :)

*Jacqulynn Grace found a new form of Independence. She was as free as a little fish in a big ocean. No large round flotation devices for her, no mommies to save her from swallowing too much water, just Little Lady with her water wings in the pool. More times than not she had her cute hot pink crocks on. Who doesn't go swimming with their shoes on?? When she was not floating freely, she was running around the pool throwing everyone elses shoes in. . . I guess she thinks everyone should go swimming with their shoes on.

*Shoes on or shoes off Max has only one thing on his mind...getting back to Utah! We took the little guy to the Circus and what did he ask, "When do we go back to Utah?". To the Shark Tank "when do we go back.. . ". To the strip, "when...". To say the least, little Max has a one track mind. We love you Max, even outside of Utah.

*If Alexander and Barrett spoke anything other than twin-speak I'm certain one of the them would love being in NV and the other dislike it. This trip has reaffirmed that these boys are complete opposites. Xander wakes up begging to swim, jump, and be thrown in the pool. While Barrett refuses to go any deeper than what his little toes can touch and sometimes that is asking too much. Xman loved the fast racing roller coasters. . . .the same roller coasters that Barrett was clinching onto the bar for his dear life. Alexander had a thrill pushing the "roaring" button to the mechanic dinosaur. Barrett high tailed it out of the room in a fright with his ears covered, "I scared!". If they weren't so bloody cute (like their daddy) I'd swear there was a mix up at the hospital. Despite all their differences they love each other very much! Everytime I turned around they were plotting together to find a way to drive me crazy.

*I have not determined whether Las Vegas is the multi-level marketing capital of the world or if Tim has the words "I'm a sucker" written all over his face. He was approached by at least 3 different Network Marketers all pushing a different product. We even had a lady track us down and bring us some goods. One good thing from all of these salespeople was one had a T-shirt that summed up the essence of Sin city. It said something about liquor and poker... but I think it is best if we don't get into too much detail.

*Shauna takes at least 10 pictures of everything and everyone at every single attraction. Our poor children . . they are probably blind from the camera flash. We created a little Watson's in Vegas slide show. There are at least 100 pictures (OK not 100, but alot) and that is just a small portion from our trip. Check it out! When you get tired of seeing the Watson's in Vegas you can just close the window ~ We'll never know. :) Enjoy!