Sticky Fingers

I tagged along on a shopping trip to Park City with my sister and my mom yesterday. I didn't have any shopping to do, but I thought it sounded like a fun outing. My two littlest boys that get to share the bulk of the day with me tagged along, too. David felt like a king being able to watch cartoons on the drive up (Jodi has a DVD player in her van) and Brig did his part to make the trip enjoyable by sleeping the whole way up. We parked and headed for the clothing store that was the main reason for the trip, but got sidetracked at the Croc store when we saw the sign for the summer clearance. My mom has a pair of Croc sandals that she loves so we thought we would go take a peek to see what the clearance section had to offer. David saw a section that contained an entire wall of red kids' Crocs. He pointed to them and said, "These are really cute!". I agreed with him and continued to look around. We didn't stay long browsing for Crocs, and continued on to the next store. We walked around and shopped for another hour and a half or so, then headed back to the van to be sure we would have time to eat lunch and make it home before the kids returned from school. I took Brig's car seat out of the stroller and got ready to collapse it and put it in the trunk, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but...you guessed it. A tiny pair of red Crocs. I was mortified, yet grateful that we realized it before we made the trip home. I am usually the responsible parent that makes sure that the child who has done wrong makes amends by apologizing (or in this case returning stolen goods). To be honest, it didn't even occur to me this time. I think I'm still in survival mode where I have to remind myself of the most basic things. My mom returned the Crocs while I buckled Brig and David in the car. We did have a lengthy discussion about stealing on the way home, and a follow-up discussion with Dad to make sure he understood why it was wrong and what to do in the future if he thinks something is "really cute". (In David's words, "We have to pay the lady". We did try to explain that the answer will not always be 'yes' and if that's the case he will just have to put it back.) This was our first experience with stealing (as far as I know), and I will definitely be more aware in the future, especially in stores with lots of really cute things.

Back to School

So begins another school year. I should stop wondering how each summer goes by faster than the last one, and just accept it. The kids were all really excited to start a new year. They were all very pleased as they met their teachers the night before.

We are ready for a schedule. The only problem? Brig didn't get the memo that we are on a schedule, so he still has some rough nights, making it difficult for me to be functioning and cheerful a couple of hours earlier than I'm used to. We have somehow managed to be at the bus stop on time for the two days school has been in session, and I know we will find our groove and make it smooth sailing in the mornings. It's just around the corner--I can feel it.

My 5th, 1st, and 3rd graders:

They were on the bus with hardly a backward glance. Olivia humored me and turned around long enough for me to snap a quick photo.
It was too quick to be painful--just like ripping off a band-aid (plus they were all so excited there was nothing to be sad about). They were off to their new adventures, and the two little boys and I headed home to begin ours.
I know it's only been two days, but I am encouraged by the fact that both boys napped at the same time in the afternoon on both days. My fingers are crossed that this will remain a part of our daily routine.
**A funny Warren quote:
Warren: "Mom, do you know how good my new socks are?"
Me: "How good are they?"
Warren: "From my stomach to my back good. That's really good."
(I found out that "from my stomach to my back" is all the way around; as far as you can stretch your arms out. Warren gave me a visual demonstration.)

A serious case of the giggles

Last week we met my friend Christa in Salt Lake. First stop was the Tracy Aviary.

There was a baby flamingo that had hatched just two days before we were there. The mom is sitting on the rock, and the dad is standing next to her. They took turns feeding the new baby. Every once in a while its little head would pop up to eat. It was very sweet! (The green water has something to do with the mating season, it's not contaminated.) This was the first picture I took, and as I took it I saw the red battery light flashing. Knowing that there were more adventures ahead, I didn't take too many pictures so we could conserve battery power.

We mapped out our day so we could do everything we wanted to do at the Aviary. While we were waiting to feed the birds a worker came and said, "You're not waiting to feed the birds are you?" (Um...nope. We 're just taking a little break here on the comfy cement in the blazing hot sun.) When we said that we were indeed waiting to feed the birds she informed us that they weren't doing the 12:30 feeding due to the tree trimming that was going on. We were bummed that we weren't able to do it. It looked like a lot of fun! We'll have to go back another day. We did get to see lots of birds, listen to a presentation about eggs, and watch a bird show.

Since I knew we would be in the area, I called the Sweet's Candy Factory to schedule a tour. After the Aviary, we headed to the park for lunch, then went to the candy factory.

As we were getting seated to start the tour, Brig filled his pants. I left to go change his diaper, and when I came back our whole group had their hair nets on. Christa motioned to my chair and held up my hair net. She then smiled as she held up another object--a teeny tiny itty bitty baby sized hair net. Liv was holding Brig at this point, and I held up the hair net to show her. She started laughing. I started laughing. We were trying to stay quiet because there was a video on. The laughing increased, the tears started coming, the convulsions began. This was just at the thought of a seven week old baby in a hairnet. Then came the reality of a seven week old baby in a hairnet, and it was all over. I felt like a thirteen year old girl trying not to laugh in church. My face was wet with tears. Liv may have lost control of the part of her body that keeps gas in, and a whole new wave of laughter began. I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. I felt weak when we were finally able to pull it together, which fortunately was before the candy factory worker came back in. I wiped the tears off my face, placed Brig in the snugli, and started on our tour.

It was very cool to see how the candy is made. I felt like I was watching Mr. Rogers. (Do you remember the portion of his show when they would show how things were made? My very favorite were crayons and jeans.) Anyway, our tour guide was very nice. We were able to sample some of the candy, then shop at the store. We chose salt water taffy that was on sale. We headed home after an awesome day with friends. Thanks, Christa and kids! We had a blast!

And thank you, Sweet's Candy Factory, for requiring even the tiniest of your guests to wear hairnets. It provided me with more than just a sanitary candy tour...so much more.

Monkey Toes

His legs are usually crossed.

His toes are sometimes closed...

and sometimes open, wide open...

Mom, Come and See!

You never know what you're going to get when you hear these words. This time the words came from Olivia. I could tell from her tone of voice that it probably wasn't something bad. It was more of a tone of excitement. I followed her outside to see this:When David saw me he yelled, "Hey Mom, I'm riding a two wheeler!" Sure enough.

He has a red bike with training wheels. We noticed last week that the training wheels didn't hit the road very often but we didn't think about taking the training wheels off--you know, because he's three. On this day, the neighbors put him on their "pickle bike" (as David calls it) and off he went.

No running behind a shaky bike until he was steadied. No pep talks. No scraped knees. I asked him how he felt about it, and this is the face he made:


He was ecstatic and spent the rest of the evening happily riding up and down the street (with bare feet--we're awesome).

I kept thinking,
There goes my three year old

on a two wheeler...

in a diaper.

I am still trying to figure out how to duplicate this experience with potty training so that one day I can write a blog post that goes something like this:
Fully potty trained. No pep talks. No bribing. No accidents.
Watch for that post (a girl can dream, can't she?).

Blessed, Baptized, and Reunited

Last weekend was a wonderfully busy one! Friday we kicked off a family reunion for my dad's extended family. We get together every other year, and we always have a blast. We ate at a park, got reacquainted, tossed water balloons, ate some more, then headed over to Veteran's Pool in the evening (I didn't have my camera with me).

Saturday morning we got dressed in Sunday clothes and headed up to the Stake Center for Brigham's blessing and Sean's baptism. First was Brig's turn. We had a very informal, yet very sweet meeting. We had an opening prayer, the girl cousins sang "A Child's Prayer", Darin gave the blessing, then we had a closing prayer. Brig looked so peaceful and he slept soundly through the whole thing.

Next was Sean's turn. The family headed into the chapel while we helped to get Sean ready. He was so excited! (How cute is that smile?)


Sean got to share his special day with his good friend Ryan.
My two boys in white:

It was so neat to have so much family support, especially with all that was going on. (I apologize to Darin's family that didn't get the memo. We were indecisive about the time and whether or not we were going to do the blessing until the day before, and we knew it would be crazy trying to hurry right over to the reunion so we didn't spread the word as well as one would have hoped. My family got the memo because we made the reunion start an hour late.)

As soon as the baptism was over we all changed and headed back to the reunion. My cousin brought his rock climbing wall. It was amazing!

The bounce house:
Bubbles:
Friendship bracelets:

Playing in the sand:

There was also lots of visiting, lots of eating, and the traditional water fight.

My cousin Steve organized a family history activity where we learned more about our ancestors and were reminded of our great heritage. I learned that one of my ancestors was responsible for bringing the first cat into Utah. Love us or hate us for it!

I got a little teary thinking about my loved ones that have passed away. I am so grateful for my family.

Uncle Jack (Dad's brother), Aunt June (Jack's wife) , Aunt Bonnie (Dad's sister), Mom, Dad

We missed Aunt Carol, Aunt Marie and their families.

My family

My family with spouses (We missed Heidi and Whitney who had family get togethers that conflicted with the reunion. I miss Todd even more at these big family get togethers. It's hard to believe he's been gone for almost three years.)

Add the kids: (There are 40 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Not everyone is pictured)

Everyone that was at the reunion (minus a few that had to leave). One thing I love at these reunions is seeing in real life the relatives I normally only get to see on blogs.

I think we are still recovering from our eventful weekend, but it was well worth it!

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

I just returned from every husband's favorite Dr.'s appointment: the 6 week check.

The Good News: I've lost 32 pounds
The Bad News: I gained more than that during my pregnancy (a lot more), and I started a little heavier than usual so I have a lot of work to do.

The Good News: I've done it before, so I know I can do it
The Bad News: Since I've done it before, I know how much work it takes, and I'm not sure I'm ready to start.

Please send motivation.

Cub Scout Day Camp

One of the perks of turning 8 is Cub Scouts. Sean's first activity with the Cub Scouts was Day Camp. We met the boys at the church bright and early.
He was so excited to go! When he returned in the afternoon, he showed us all his goods and told us all about his adventures.After he told us about his day he complained that he didn't "feel so good". He still had his lunch bag with him, and it still looked quite full. I looked inside to find a turkey sandwich, apples, and carrots--which meant that for lunch he had Cheetos, a granola bar, and Skittles. (I wonder why he didn't feel well?) I had him eat half the sandwich and some of the apples and carrots before he changed into play clothes and headed out to play with friends. It wasn't long before he was back inside. He spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the couch looking like this:Note to self: Day Camp is treat enough. If Sean complains about a boring lunch next time I will be showing him this picture.
He is still very much enthused about being a Cub Scout. I'd better get familiar with the program since we will be active participants for the next several years. Sean will be blazing the scouting trail for all of his brothers.