Hot summer days . . .

Hillary and her boyfriend Jay
Tess, Jarom (AKA Ammoron), my sis Cyndel (her eyes are closed on purpose by the way, she is such a funny girl, check her out at dodenbier.blogspot.com), and Carter

More sparklers, such a great toy for a 2 year old (note the sarcasm, Carter burned his shirt!)

So I have uploaded new pics already, hooray! The above are from the 24th of July party we had at our house. I took a bunch of pics of my family just to post them here :). They have found my blog and all seem tickled when their picture is on here, so there you guys go! Anyway . . .we have been busy running around since the last post. Lowell has taken some time off because most of his work for the summer is done, he has to use his days or he will lose them, and he thought he could find some projects to do at home. I don't think husbands always think time off through that well. A day off used to mean sleeping in and lazing about, that was before kids! Lowell has been quite busy getting the cars fixed up, a flat tire and oil change on our Civic and then he cleaned out and detailed the Odyssey and got it an oil change and its balance fixed. He has also weeded the whole yard (1/2 acre landscaped plus a large garden) and last I talked to him he was finishing cleaning the bathrooms and vacuuming the upstairs. He likes to come home to a clean house, so he is getting a head start before we leave. Have I said it enough times on here yet, I have the greatest husband!!! Yep, I know you're jealous!

I have also taken advantage of having Lowell home to do some fun stuff with the munchkins. Monday we did the giant slip and slide at the gardens. Here is Carter going down:

They seemed to like it, but we got there late and only got to go down one time. So we went home and turned the sprinklers on in our backyard for them and then put water down the slide on their swingset so they could have a water slide. Here they are with that one:
Carter
Davis
I don't know how you could tell in those pics though, I just know what they were wearing. Anyway . . .yesterday we went to the zoo with Lowell and had a good time there. Cyndel came too, thus fulfilling one of the things on her 100 things to do this summer list. The bubs did pretty well even though it was rather hot (did I mention it is going to 101 here in Utah on Saturday, but only 74 degrees in Yellowstone, oh yes, I chose wisely! :)). Here are the boys on the tigers, I have one of these from every year somewhere. They are the only ones on it because they were bossing all the other kids around and telling them they couldn't play. Not sure what to do about that, they do it everywhere we go. Anybody have any ideas? We just tell them, no, you need to share and be a friend, yadda yadda. They actually share better with each other than other people, which isn't saying a whole lot.

Then after nap yesterday we went and played at the children's garden. The last time we went we got there too late so it was nice this time to play a little longer. Davis got drenched by the elephant which squirts water, very fun! Of course they wouldn't share there either, but the other parents were pretty cool.

Today we just went to the gym and tomorrow we will be setting up the tent to test it out and getting packed. Yellowstone here we come, hooray! Last night was funny, the boys both pulled on their pull ups over their PJs and ran around laughing and talking about what big boys they are. Such funny kids. Davey has been having problems with being scared at night, not sure how to help him, enlisting help for that too. I think he either had some bad dreams or the shadows in his new room are bugging him. Either way he'll scream bloody murder unless you sit with him until he's asleep and then he'll wake up crying a few times at night. I hope this too will pass soon. Well, that all folks, TTFN!

Mess!

If you remember, a couple of weeks ago we went to messy day at the gardens (next Monday will be a giant slip and slide, hooray!). So here are the pictures from that day. As you can see my lil' sis Hillary was a huge help with the boys. She works at the gardens and seemed to quite enjoy the JELLO mess as well. Carter liked the finger painting but missed the Jello fight due to a messy diaper situation. He joined Davis for the sprinklers coming on though and though they don't really like getting water on their heads, I think the peer pressure of everyone screaming and laughing got them into it. Actually since their swim lessons they have done much better with water. Who knew swim lessons would make bath time more manageable?

On the topic of messy children, I thought these pictures would fit in quite well. When we moved Davis into what was the playroom, Lowell didn't realize there were markers in the drawers that were left in his new room. So apparently he woke up early, found the markers, and did what comes naturally to 2 year olds! The first time was the bottom picture, note the variety of color and extent of coloring on his body, quite the artist. The top picture happened after we realized though the box of markers had been put away, a sneaky brown marker remained in the drawer. I didn't even realize he had written all over his chest as well until I got him undressed. Not sure the inspiration for coloring himself like this, but he seemed to think he looked pretty good!
Anyway, now you are updated a little and Hillary has some pictures of her posted ;). This week we have been taking requests (demands) for activities, it is fun that the boys are finally verbal enough to tell us what they would like to do, what they'd like to eat, etc. Of course this means us saying no more often, but we try to accomodate as much as possible. So Wednesday we fulfilled on of their requests and went swimming. This was the first time since swim lessons and they did so good. They loved being able to actually play and not just have class. We were at the Lehi Legacy Center and if you haven't been there, the pool is awesome. It is warm and mostly indoors to begin with, then there is a toddler play area and swings, slides, and very shallow water, they also have a bigger kid play area with different water toys, slides, and gears plus a giant bucket that dumps every few minutes. The bigger kid area is also shallow so the munchkins were all over that. When I took them to the same pool last year, they didn't last an hour and wouldn't get near the bigger play structure. This week I dragged them out after an hour and a half of them being on everything. I forgot they also have a lazy river and an outdoor splash pad. So fun! It was a bonus that we had free passes from when our classes were cancelled. Last night we did "firebooms" another frequent request. My family came over this time and we had a BBQ and some Wii time before the pyros took over. I can't believe how much the boys love fire. They had to be right there to light all the firebooms and then would run laughing back to my sisters to watch. We had to limit some of our larger (more fun) fireworks due to dry conditions and police monitoring but it was still fun. I of course have pictures of everyone, but I haven't uploaded them yet so you'll have to wait :).
I have had the nice opportunity in the past little while to catch up with some friends online. It has been so nice, cool how facebook can work to get people together sometimes. It just reminds me of some of the really fun times in my life, like my freshman year of college, and how it's kind of a bummer that you have to grow up. It's just a fact, you grow up and move on and it's hard to even keep in contact with people you considered to be your best friends. Our lives have just changed so much now, mostly by jobs, locations, and children. But it is still nice to catch up once in a while and reflect on good times. I have been lucky to keep in fairly regular contact with my oldest friend, Kristina who I've known since we were 4 and we shared the chicken pox. She now has 3 boys and lives in Denver, so I don't see her near as much as I'd like but through the wonder of the internet it is nice we can still keep in touch and I can check in on my honorary nephews. I think I may need to branch out and make some new friends who actually live in the same state as me.
This weekend we hope to tie up some of the bubs' other requests, going to the children's garden and the aquarium. Then I really need to get planning for our Yellowstone trip which looks like a go and we'll be leaving in one week! Aaah! Camping just takes so much more packing, so I better get planning. Anyone been to Yellowstone with small children? And suggestions? Have a good one!

Another fun weekend

So cutie, Maddy, Max, and Oscar
Riding the 4X4s
First roller-coaster (I think Davis liked this more than Carter)
Who's spoiled?

So we have survived another weekend. The dog party went fairly well, not as many attendees as I had planned but it was still fun. Next time I will do it later in the day though, it was quite hot. The dogs enjjoyed visiting with the other dogs and especially all the treats. I don't do these every year, but it's nice to spoil my dogs once in a while. Who else loves you no matter what, any time of day, even after you yell at them. They are such loyal, patient creatures. It may be lame, but I love my dogs!

After the party we went to the carnival again which the boys enjoyed. This one was more expensive than the last so the bubs just did 3 rides and then had cotton candy and sno cones. They seemed pleased enough with that. And today we went to the park with Cyndel but it was rather hot again. Tomorrow there are plans for a trip to the gardens, then Cynni has offered to sit with the boys while they nap so I can go see the new Batman with Lowell (it will be his second time) and then I think we will try the swimming pool after nap, here's hoping it hasn't been shut down due to poo in the pool again. Thursday is a holiday here in Utah, Pioneer Day, the anniversary if when Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley and declared that this was the place. It's a Utah history thing. We honor those who sacrificed greatly to found this great state and it is obviously a religious holiday for us as well. I am in awe of those pioneers and what they went through in the name of their God. My family members are included in those numbers, as wagon and handcart pioneers I believe as well as I honor the pioneers in my family that came to Utah well after 1847, my dad's parents who came following the prophet's call from a war-ravaged Holland (my grandpa escaped from a Nazi work camp) in 1951. So to honor these folks, well, mostly I'll be working and saving up money for Yellowstone and Disney, but then we are having a BBQ with my family and setting off some more fire-booms.

We are continuing to struggle with boys who do not want to sleep. The stay up to late wake up late won't take a nap, over-tired at bedtime cycle is continuing. We have broken it a couple of times but they seem to get right back off. I am really at a loss, I can't figure out what is up with them. They need the sleep as they are cranky and uncooperative (more than usual) without the rest so we will continue to push for their full night's sleep and a nap. Some may say it is time to give up the nap but 1, mommy still needs it based on her work schedule 2, a lot of experts agree they should be napping past 3 years old and 3, my kids inidividually do need it based on their crankiness. I am a sleep tyrant as I know it impacts, mood, and mental/physical development. We'll just keep trying and hope for better days ahead. Maybe it is their teeth? P.S. I just talked to Lowell and his sister said my nephew went through the same thing, but he did get back on schedule and still naps, he's 5.5. So, here's hoping it's a phase . . .

So here's a fun story about our sleep struggles. Davis wanted to sleep downstairs and he sleeps better there so I let him. I got Carter down, I made dinner and then got in the shower thinking how ahead of schedule I was and that the boys were quiet. While I was showering I heard some little voices but I assumed I was hearing them through the vent because there are door locks on the boys' rooms. The voices got louder so I opened the curtain and there were my 2 jail-breaks standing there looking at me (they saw me in my nakedness and said, Mama funny). Turns out Lowell had moved the door lock on the downstairs room when Davis moved upstairs so Davis had just opened his door when he didn't want to take a nap and then marched upstairs and let Carter out so they could have an adventure. I got them back to bed and it wasn't such a big deal, just a big surprise for me and a bummer that I ended up being late to work after having such a good head start.

Thus it is in the life of 2 2 year olds, they really do team up on me sometimes. They are getting more verbal with each other recently, or at least more verbal in English so I know what they are saying. Sunday Lowell had to check his school so we let the munchkins run around a little and I had to laugh at their little talks. They were jumping off a little ledge about 2 feet up (Carter jumps off the trampoline and lands it no problem, such a crazy boy) and here's how it would go D: Tome on Tarter, jump! C:1, 2, 3 go! D: Wow, Tarter dood job. C: Thanks Dadis, your turn. Once they managed to jump into each other but they jumped right up gave each other a hug and said they were sorry, Davis patted Carter on the back and said, 'All better". They can be so fun, but this week with the sleep issue they are just being so punky. Today they wanted to play in the garage while I made lunch (it is fairly child-proofed, they were "cooking" by putting chewed up pieces of corn dog in the wet-dry vac) and every time I would check on them Carter would yell, "Do back in the house, shut the door!" We are having a resurgence of No in our house as well, just everything is No. And hitting mommy and daddy, my we have such fun. Again, hoping it is just a phase but trying to keep the limits firm as they keep pushing our buttons.

Well, back to not working, I hope you all have a good day! :)

Proof

So here's proof that once upon a time Lowell and I did things other than chase our munchkins. The top shot is me on the hike to Mirror Lake with Half Dome in the background. A more impressive picture would be me standing on top of that mountain, I so need to go and scan my old shots. Climbing Half Dome earned me an official scout name, Iron Maiden, which I am very proud of. The middle shot is Lowell and I on the beach behind our hotel at Monterey and the final is Lowell overlooking a waterfall in Lake Tahoe. We actually love to travel but have slowed down a bit since the little ones have come along. Though they have flown twice to southern Cali to see my Dad and once to Tahoe plus they have been to Disney, St. George, Las Vegas, and Denver--not too bad for not being 3 yet. I am trying to talk Lowell into another trip, Yellowstone if I can fit it in at work before school starts for Lowell. I am keeping my fingers crossed! My whole family would come and we would be camping in tents :). We'll see.
I took another adventure today, I went to 3 stores back-to-back with the boys! And after 2 busy nights of call and very little sleep and we all survived. We were getting supplies for the dogs' birthday party tomorrow, it should be fun. The boys really are so much better at stores than they used to be, they are almost portable now. Not to say there weren't quite a few bribes involved, but I have to pat myself on the back once in a while, I felt like a good mom. So often I feel completely overwhelmed and under-capable--it was nice for once to feel like I had my life under control. It will change tomorrow, but for today I think I did okay. We are going to the carnival in the morning before the party so that will be fun.
I met my new boss. Not so sure about him, I guess time will tell. We are a work family here and it is hard to introduce new people. The first thing I said to him was "What are you doing back here" meaning in the lab area where patients aren't allowed. I guess he is allowed now though. I am still rather divided on the whole situation, but if it means I can get a day off I guess I should just be grateful.
Well, happy weekend to you all. I am glad to have my 3 nights on with call (that's 42 hours in 3 days) nearly over and looking forward to a nap! Catch you all next week!

Finding an excuse . . .

I have a little obsession with daisies.
And eyelashes!
Gasp! The boys aren't in this one!!!
What happens when Lowell does something--they both have to copy it!

to not to work out! It's true I should be doing my nightly exercise video at work, but I have been so busy actually working (gasp!) that I am finding something to do while the tests are running besides getting started on my work out. It's just seems the later it gets, the less I want to do it. And it is almost 11, so it's not looking good! Everyday I find an excuse, I walked the boys to the park today, I went swimming (yeah swim lessons bought me 2 weeks off!), I am just tired. And though the weight is staying pretty stable from running 4.5 miles twice a week at the gym, my tummy is getting ever-so flabby. Maybe I will rationalize myself into an ab routine tonight and skip all the weights and stair climbing. Hmmm . . .

Anyway I have had some cranky children the last couple of days. It has not been pretty. So we switched into separate rooms on Sunday night and they loved it. Seriously, right to sleep without a peep (while Davis fussed for a minute being in a new room, but not bad.) And they still like their own rooms, they keep talking about it and we took them to pick a theme for their rooms (Carter: Nemo, Davis: Cars) and they have been doing well in there at night and in the morning. But naps have not gone well. It's weird because they have been apart at nap for months now, I don't get it! Maybe they are sleeping better at night and so aren't as tired for nap? But they are so so ornery and tired I don't think that's it. Who knows, but today when they just couldn't stand themselves any more they were so over-tired I really pushed the issue and they took decent naps. They went to bed on time too, so we will see if we can stop the over-tired won't nap sleep cycle.

In the midst of the orneriness, we did have some fun. We went to the Monday family night activity at the gardens and it was 'get messy!'. They had finger painting, pudding to eat, and a giant Jello fight with the sprinklers coming on after for clean up. My sis Hillary works there and she was such a help with the boys getting dirty. Fun times! Of course Carter decided to make a special mess of his own by way of overloaded Pull Up necessitating a new set of clothes so he missed the Jello part, but he had fun in the sprinklers anyway. Thanks to my honey who ran him to the car and back (not a short trip) found some clothes in the car and cleaned up the child and the stroller. Wow, he's great! He's not available for rent!

I did get to have some fun with him this week thanks to my darling Hillary. She tended the boys during nap (or lack thereof) for 2 days so Lowell and I could go see Hancock and then the next day go to Olive Garden for lunch. Such a nice chance to get away, we needed it! Next will be our anniversary (one month away) when we always go overnight and have a nice dinner, traditionally at The Cabin at The Canyons. Highly recommended, I must say. I am also trying to arrange a mom's retreat with my twin club where we'll all go spend a night away and then go shopping! Doesn't that sound fun? I hope it works out.

Well, I guess that is enough time postponing the work out, time to go!

As time goes by . . .

2 summers ago Lowell and I went to a company party at the gardens. I had been before but only at company parties. This was the boys first visit. Amazingly I got some shots I just adored. It helped that at the time they could barely crawl and so would just sit there nicely. Still I hung these pics on the wall of my bedroom and admired my cutie cutes.

One year later I had received a gardens pass for Christmas from Lowell and used it well. I was well versed with the gardens and the boys know it inside and out. Good pics of the 2 continued to be rare but on a fluke I tried some shots on this bench. I was alone with these 2 and hardly even let them out of the stroller for fear of them taking off on me but with candy in my hand waving above their heads to get their attention I was pleased to get a couple of good shots. I developed those and hung them on the wall in our room as well to mark the boys' progression.


So yesterday I was headed to the gardens with my mom and thought to grab the camera because the boys have been pretty good about it the last week. I got myself some chocolate from the little shop and some suckers for the boys mostly just because it was still open (the yumminess of the chocolate might have played a role). I took a chance on some pics and was so pleased to once again get some fun shots. They have chocolate all over their faces, but those are my boys and I can't believe how much theu have changed over the years. They are going on 3 and so fun and funny, I can't get enough of their darling mugs, hence so so many photos! I will get these shots developed and hang them on the wall next to the other 2 years. I am hopeful that this will get to be a yearly event, perhaps someday even including more people (no announcements--we have our hands bountifully full right now with these 2!)

Tagged!

I was tagged by my cutie-friend from college, Scott. So post a memory if you want!

Here are the directions
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses...

It's been the same old same old for us this week. Today is the last day of swimming lessons, so that is a bummer, but also some time freed up. It is crazy how nice the teachers have been, the boys are just magnets for people, every day at the end of class all the guards come and take the boys and play with them while I gab. So fun, I am going to miss that! We'll hopefully see our cutie lifeguard again as I invited him to go to the zoo with us and my Cyndel, who he is friends with. I am hoping to set them up, he is just so good with my boys, such a selfish reason to set someone up, huh? We also visited the dino museum and the aquarium in the last couple of days. The boys didn't do great at either though, just so cranky. I think it is both their teeth (back molars, last ones for a while hooray!) and just not sleeping all that well. Lowell and I decided last night to try seperating them at bed time for a while. I have resisted this for a long time, but he made some good points. One, everyone needs their down time, being in with each other the bubs are playing or pushing each other's buttons all the way until the fall asleep. I guess everyone should be allowed their space. Two, their sleep schedules are different, Davis likes to get up early (okay, so early at our house is 8, no one hate me!) and Carter likes to sleep longer but Big D always pesters him awake. I guess that would irritate me, I am in the Carter sleep category. Three, Davis has been using Carter to get attention in their room, i.e. he will bite Carter to get him to do the hurt cry which will get us to respnd faster than the annoying I don't want to sleep cry. This really isn't fair to Carter. Four, yesterday after another said biting incident I put Davis downstairs in his nap bed (the guest room) and he happily and quietly went right to bed. After comforting Carter he also went right to sleep. I went to get Davis (having used the downstairs room as a punishment/cool off time in my mind) and he didn't want to leave. I guess that #4 really sunk it for me. We are lucky that we have room enough for them to have their own space so this weekend we will begin the process of seperating them. I don't like Davis being downstairs, just too far away, we hear him kicking the door or through the vents, but I'd rather him be in the room right across the hall and next to Carter which is currently our playroom. So the playroom will be condensed and join the playroom take 2 downstairs (really, it is the playroom and the upstairs room was supposed to be my "preschool" area). The table and chairs and easel will stay in Carter's room to be used as our preschool and a book shelf will be added to Davey's room to keep their books handy. They'll each have a rocking chair and their toddler beds which have drawers for their clothes attached. We'd also like to redecorate both rooms to make them more comfy for them. It'll be a chore but I am actually excited about it because I think it will be good for them both. We may put them back together at some point, we'll just have to see how it goes.
So, here's a fun moment from the other day . . .Carter has been getting better with his sentences and especially connecting events and stories. Like we found a feather and Carter said, "magic feather, hold in nose, fly like Bumbo". He had hit his brother in the tub and I gave him a swat on the bum because it was easy access at the time as I was drying him off and because of the severity of the crime, he knocked him pretty good, hit him over the head with a water gun. We really try to use time outs for the most part but once in a while we will use an attention swat to get a point across, usually a pat on the hand. So Lowell was getting him dressed and said, Carter we don't hit, so he said, "I broke his head, mama hit my bum, mama no hit!". I was shocked he put that together all ready, but I just said I was sorry and committed to try harder. Such a funny little bumpkin.
They have been so funny and so cute lately even when cranky. The big thing right now is kisses. Before they were born Lowell said he would not kiss them on the lips, but they have proved him wrong. They insist on kissing on the lips and won't take no for an answer. Lately they have been into long kisses, they just kiss you and giggle as they keep on kissing. I am like 'okay, enough we're not making out!'. I don't know where they got that from . . .I am just crazy about those little buggers.
Okay one more commercial moment, I just got my most recent photo book from artscow and they gave me codes for 10 more books at just the cost of shipping $11.99. They are 30 pages and you can do full page pics, use their provided backgrounds, or paste in digiscrap pages. It is hard-bound with a custom photo cover. Anyway, the 10 books expire on 8/14 and there is no way I can use them all, I already have 5 others to use by then. But these can be shared so I am passing the codes on to you. Each can only be used once so if you try one and it doesn't work, try another one.
Here they are, just type it in at the coupon prompt at checkout:
ZSVF546
ZUQUSWR
ZZPLCRF
ZJL662Q
ZMX2L11
Z532MBK
ZTZUHWU
ZH66KCE
Z7HALR6
ZU7JT3N
And those are for http://www.artscow.com/, if you haven't tried them yet I think they are still giving out 200 free 4x6s and 200 free 5x7s when you join, and also try these codes: 60FREE8X10 and 24FREE12X18 , if they still work you'll get all those free too. Okay end of commercial break!

Becoming a little obsessed . . .

Yep, I think I am becoming a bit obsessed with this digiscrap business. I have to admit that these are all premade layouts that I just added photos to and tweaked a little. When I run out of the premade ones I will be out of luck but doesn't it look like I know what I am doing? I am determined to use all my free photo books before they expire! My, they are 30 pages each, I have a long way to go! Happy day to you!

4th of July photos now uploaded! Hooray!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What a wonderful holiday!

I have to preface my post with my regret to so many people that were unable to enjoy the holiday as much as I was. I know of 2 families in particular, one whose little gal is recovering in a hospital limiting what they were able to do and another who said goodbye to their 2 year old after a long struggle with a congenital heart defect. There are many more who are missing loved ones or who are away fighting for our freedoms. I cannot express how grateful I am to live freely in this country and to have busy healthy children. That said, we had a great weekend! Thanks to some last minute schedule additions I was able to have the whole day off, the first holiday I have had off in years. We lazed around in the morning and then had a BBQ with Lowell's family. I was pleased with how my JELLO desserts turned out and would be happy to share pics but my camera battery died while I was uploading them and the plug is at home. Argh! I have SO many good pics to share, the boys have finally given me some good ones but they will have to wait until tomorrow. You'll have to suffice on what had already uploaded. After a good dinner and time to chat we did fireworks at grandma and grandpa's house, the least flammable location due to some of our high flying (slightly less than legal) pyrotechnics. The boys loved it, they would run up and watch as each "fireboom" was lit and then run away laughing. They loved sparklers of course, and the big booms too. We had a few firecrackers that were vehicles, so those were a hit. Just a good day. Then the next morning we went to the zoo with my brother-in-law, his wife, and my nieces. That went well as well with the boys being fairly well behaved and getting good and worn out. Sunday was just the usual day with some fun at grandma's house and plenty of sticky faces after some Jello pudding pops. Man I wish those pics would have uploaded! And my favorite part of the day, when I was putting the boys down and having some fun. I let them take some pics of each other and they turned out great. I am so thrilled to have some good pictures. Funny the things they will do for each other but not for me. Today was just the gym, swim lessons (everyone loves Carter's laugh and Cyndel my sis is quite popular, our teacher asked her out--she is a doll I must say) and then off to work. So that's all for the weekend, doesn't sound as fun on here but it was just a nice weekend off, and a good time to be thankful for all that this country means to me and my family.

Trying out digital scrapbooking

Just testing out the digital scrapbooking world. Anyone could tell you that I am not talented with this kind of stuff, but I thought I would give it a try. One more thing to do with my photos. Also I have 11 free photobooks and more prints than I can count (actually I can, 60 8X10s, 22 12x18s, 5 mousepads, a calendar, and 400 prints) still waiting free so gives me something to do with them. 5 of the photobooks expire in August, so plenty of work for this summer, like scanning all my old photos and doing some things with something other than my boys. Anyway, if you are bored and not already 10 times better at this than me check out scrapblog.com. It's free and easy to use. And if you haven't yet found the secret to all my free photo items, check out artscow.com. There is my pubic service announcement (commercial) for the day!
P.S. You can click on the pic to see the bigger version.

A busy day

Some new pics from the last little bit. The first are Carter and Davis collecting bugs. This is such a hit with them right now. They traded in their potty sticker chart for bug collecting tools and love to ensnare the unsuspecting creatures for study. I seriously wrestle the collectors away once an hour or so to give the bug some freedom. Then they find something new. The funniest thing the other day was Carter chasing a butterfly with his net yelling 'tome back bug, wait!'. It wasn't as funny when I chased it and couldn't catch it either. The butterflies are starting to just avoid our yard, interesting . . .The third and fourth pics are from our trip to cascade springs a couple weeks ago. They loved looking for fish in the ponds and I loved how enthusiastic Lowell was about finding them as well. Something about how it is a closed system and some fish made it there back around WWII and all the fish are descendents from them yadda yadda yadda.
Anyway on to our busy week. Monday was such a marathon day with lots of ups and downs. First we had the gym just our normal appointment (though I must say the fact that Die Hard was playing was a pleasant surprise and made the time and calories go quickly) then on to our first swim lesson. I think it went pretty well, they blew bubbles and jumped into the pool. Today wasn't quite as good as the boys had to float on their backs. Davis screamed for a good portion of that but they have to learn sometime right? My sisters Hillary and Cyndel have been fabulous to help me and one of the teachers, Cameron, is a big hit with the boys. They really only want to swim with him, not me, but those are my boy-loving very friendly boys for you. They will hug on any boy we meet, seriously. Anway, we put the boys down for a nap and headed to the funeral of my friend's darling little newborn. It was a tough service, especially for Lowell. He didn't even know the family, but thinking of what that would be like was hard. We watched as they closed the casket and my friend kissed her little one for the last time, who wouldn't cry watching that. There were a lot of people there, standing room only. Really a testament to my friend and all those who support her. We joined them at the grave, the little gal had the most precious casket you could imagine. It really is horrible that they even make them, but I guess sometimes you have to. It was white and fluffy with flowers imprinted on it. But it was so tiny, her grandpa was the sole pallbearer. Well, then Lowell went to Wyoming to get some fireworks (the boys call them fire-booms) for the 4th. Why can't he just get them in Utah? You'll have to ask him. So I took the boys to the Monday night activity at the gardens with my mom. It was a pirate themed night with face painting, map making, and a live bird show led by pirates. Needless to say, the boys loved it. I have some pics to post when I upload them. We also saw a snake on the way out, the day was complete (well after we got ice cream it was.) After Lowell got home we finally set up the wii and had so much fun with it. Finally something we can play together. Lowell has an Xbox 360 and loves first-person shooter games, but that is definitely not my thing. Nor could I ever do well with them. I play tetris and that's about it on the Xbox. So now he has the Xbox for gamer's games and the wii for family play. I won at Tennis and bowling, he won golf and we tied baseball. I am so sore! I could have never imagined a video game where I would strain my muscles so much. Hats off to the inventors.
So, that was quite a day! The rest of the week isn't near as exciting, more pool time and then the 4th coming up should be fun. I will be on-call but hopefully will be able to enjoy the fire-booms somewhat. Lowell picked up a lot of kids fireworks, neon sparklers, tanks, parachute men, etc. Something they can enjoy together, 3 pyros and me. Hope you are all well!