R you ready for some Rs?

Sorry so late on my R report. I tried to upload the pics Tuesday and my camera suddenly died. After a few panicked hours that the new work computer had fried my essential friend, it turned out the batteries were just dead. Whew! So here we go!
R was kind of hard for me, because a lot of what I wanted to do wasn't feasible in the winter (go away already! Except S has been great in the winter, so whatever!). We wanted to go play in the Red Rocks, drive Racecars, and go Rafting. All out of luck--pooey, maybe we'll try it again this summer. But we did find some things to do. Monday we went to Jumping Jacks with Reva, A and A--so we counted that for playing with the Rasbands. Then we went to find River Rocks which proved to be harder than I thought--they don't plow the walks in the winter? But we hiked into Nunn's park and shot a few pics before my feet got too cold: Davis
Carter
Then we found an unexpected friend who really spiced up the trip (both boys said it was their favorite part of the day):

A poor dirty and cold, not to mention stuck Raccoon. His little eyes were so sweet--but yes I know raccoons are mean and have Rabies, so we didn't get too close but he was stuck in a dumpster so we were pretty safe. The boys thought he was SO cool. I was just sad for him so we played Diego and became Animal Rescuers--Operation Raccoon Rescue (yes, he saved R week too!). We got him some food, something to keep him warm (Lowell thought he was injured and I said that's okay, at least he'll die full and warm) and a way to climb out. My sister-in-law was kind enough to check on him the next day and he was gone--yeah! Mission Complete!
We also talked about the color Red and had some Red candies:

Davis, I really like this shot


And Carter--he wasn't happy after preschool that day.
We also made Red JELLO Rs:


And went to the aquarium to pet the Rays (and see a Rubber Eel and Amazon River Giants). Thanks Cyndel for coming along--and silly me for forgetting my camera! It was super busy that day (booo) but we did have fun and the rays were particularly friendly that day.
So, there's R for you. I can't think of anything else very exciting that week--clearance sale at Children's Place and Leap Frog?
Preschool is going okay, the boys are behaving well enough to stay in which is great but they are disgruntled with going. Not sure why, mostly I think they are bucking against the structure which they interpret as, "I hate my teacher". They talk about friends and fun things they do at school but I have to admit it is hard to make them go when some days I'd just assume keep them home with me so we can play. My house and puppies do benefit (today I cleaned Davis's closet and walked the dogs) but it is hard for me to make them do something they don't want to do, especially when it involves dropping them off and leaving them. I know, have to grow up and let them go sometime. Sigh.
We are still struggling with colors and I still have no idea why. Any thoughts? We have been working on it for years and I feel like we are not making any progress. I have thought about it being color-blindness but they can match colors 100% correctly, they just struggle with the names. They can name 26 letters, but not 5 colors?? Some times I think they are just playing me or being lazy (Davis will answer Bluegreenpinkyelloworange when I ask). And they are getting pretty consistent with red and blue so we'll keep trying. Lately if they want a treat first they have to tell me its color, such award driven children! Well, stay tuned for S week, we are having a lot of fun and I already can't wait for T next week. Loves!

P.S. Drats I knew I'd forget something! We also had a fun-filled Saturday with 2 birthday parties last week. A fun bowling party with J&B and then my niece Hannah's birthday. So cool that my kiddos are big enough to be invited to these. We also had lunch with Uncle Rob for R week, thanks for coming Robbie!

Questionable Qs

I knew Q would be a little tricky from the beginning, but I think we did pretty good--if we had to stretch it a little bit. We thought it would be fun to go to an arcade and spend some Quarters. We talked about how 4 quarters equal a dollar, etc. but ended up going to Nickelcade because who wants to spend quarters when you could spend nickels? It was all the same to the kids. Carter and Daddy playing ski ball

Davis stomping the spiders. They got over 200 tickets (with $10 in nickels) and made out with a handful of stupid little prizes (that they loved). Success. We then went to eat at Quiznos. Less of a success. We did the 2 for $5 deal and I found the food overpriced, small, and not really all that good. Not worth it just to eat at a Q place. Later we thought of quesadillas, bummer.

They also had a few rides at Nickelcade, here's Carter

And big D

So Wednesday my new friend Jen wanted to do another play date with our kids so we headed over to Jumpin Jack's for some Quality time (huh, good Q right?? LOL!)

D

C They were having a sale on their monthly pass ($16.99 for 1 adult and 2 kids M-F 11-3) so you'll see more of us there soon. Like S for slide, T for Titanic (the boat jumper Carter is on) . . .

We hit Dairy Queen for lunch that day (thanks for the idea Janice) which is always a good thing.

Lastly today we went to the zoo, partially because we had no other letter obligations, my dad offered to join me, and that's what the boys wanted to do, and also partially because we always find something with each letter at the zoo. All these pics have a red tinge thanks to Carter playing with my camera and being smarter than me as I could not figure out how to switch it back. (Ha! I have fixed it now, now who's smart! Competing with a 4 year old, just sad.)

Davis checking out a Quirky baby siamese crocodile. This little guy was so funny, he kept snapping at the window trying to bite us. We really enjoyed the babies today, Zuri the baby elephant was out and then Acara the orangutan who is the same age as the boys was being silly and then we got to see this guy:

One of the 3 baby tigers. Isn't he just gorgeous? He was sure eyeing us down. Have I mentioned how much I love the zoo in the winter? Many times? Well, it's still true.

We also saw a baby giraffe (this is not him!) and found it very interesting that he was eating a Christmas tree. And of course the giraffe house is a:

There's your Q. See I told you we'd find one at the zoo!

I told them to hurry over to where we were getting hot chocolate and Carter went back and grabbed Davis's hand and they ran laughing all the way. I love brothers! And thanks to grandpa in the background for coming with us.

Awww . . holy double cuteness Batman. No, I can't get enough shots of them hugging and kissing thank you very much.

So, there's Q week for you, more fun than I anticipated. Preschool continues to go well (thank goodness!) and I am finding things to do--walk the dogs and fold laundry this week, 2 things that have been falling by the wayside. Plus I can't tell you how wonderful it is to grocery shop without my wonderful adorable children.

Bedtime and no naps has been so so. They have for the most part been falling asleep quickly but have been waking more from nightmares. That's strange to me but I guess it is just an adjustment thing? And some mornings they sleep well and others they get up early (like today) and then mommy and boys are on edge all day. Who knows?!!? On the whole they are just really fun right now, but sometimes I want to ring their little necks. Just being truthful!

Congratulations . . .

Jillian! You are the winner. So pick something fun near you or I'll just send a Walmart one because those are everywhere right? Thanks to everyone for being such wonderful blog readers--I love all of your blogs too (those who have one). Really brightens my day to hear of all the great things going on in your families, thanks for sharing. Loves! Oh and stick around for the 300th post and another drawing :).

P.S. Jillian-Also please let me know your home address. Thanks.

Please Pass me some Ps

P has been one of my favorite weeks so far. It's hard to compete with D (Disneyland) but P has been really fun. First off we had the first day of preschool (take 2):And to my relief it went really well. Davis was very clingy and didn't want me to leave but the teachers said they were fine after I left. I wasn't--it was so sad for me. It's lame, but they are my best friends--we play together all the time and it was hard to let go. But a little retail therapy helped--for me shopping isn't a perk when I need to buy stuff for me (blech) but only when I get outstanding deals like the clearance sale at Old Navy (for the boys: 6 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, 2 winter coats, me: 2 pairs of pants and 6 shirts--$60). They were happy to see me when I came back and the teacher said they did really well--Davis even gave one of the girls a hug and told her he loved her before we left. The second day I dropped them off without a fuss at all and when I picked them up the teacher told me they were so cute, with different personalities and that Davis was so funny (I'd rather think of him as funny than disruptive myself). Davis told me how he likes the girls in his class and that they are "beautiful". Those little men are such flirts! I'm really going to have to watch them when they get older. So, so far so good--couldn't be happier.

Wednesday Cyndel was kind enough to join us to Play at a Provo Park and then have Panda Express. We went to Rock Canyon to do some more sledding. The hills were a bit steep and iced over (read: fast) which Cyndel learned the first run as the tube stopped but she and Carter kept going, sorry Cyndel! But we found a good spot eventually and had to drag the kids away when they started laying in the snow after each run but still didn't want to leave.

Davis (thanks to Cyndel's phone since I couldn't find my camera)

Carter

That night we went to the dino museum for our last day on this year's Pass (Pout). We'll get a new one soon of course. We saw Pteradactyls and talked about silent Ps. Of course all the boys heard was blah blah blah I want to go play. We also played in the dinosaur sand Quarry for next week (hey, Qs are hard to come by!). For dinner we had a Penrod Pizza/Pasta Party.

Care of Lowell's phone (Still couldn't find my camera)

Then yesterday we went to the Planetarium

Found my phone--lost in my car, if you have ever been in my van you'll think that was not at all surprising.

We played with the cool ball machine thingy contraption (and learned about Physics)

Davis visited a Planet--Mars

Carter hung out with an astronaut on the moon

Cyndel and Carter were meteorologists

And then we all saw a movie in the dome, which wasn't near as scary as Cyndel is demonstrating--LOL, silly girl! Thanks to Hill and Cyn for joining us (and Hillary for tending the boys last night so Lowell and I could have a date night, she rocks!). The movie was pretty interesting, especially on the dome and made me reflect on just how miniscule we are on our little planet. It amazes me just how massive space is and yet how complex every individual cell is.

So, there's P week for you. If you haven't posted to my drawing for the 200th post yet, you have until Monday at midnight--check the previous post. I will announce the winner on Tuesday. Thanks for all the comments everyone, they really have made my day. You are all such good friends and I love you!

P.S. Sorry for the old blog header (who noticed it was repeat? You can hardly tell with my slow growing kids) scrapblog is having issues--hopefully there will be a new one soon. :)

O what a week and Post # 200!

I'll start with the fun news first--this is my 200th post! Can you believe it? It sounds like so many--this blog has been a wonderful part of my life, a way to journal, vent, connect, ponder . . .and you all have been an important part of that. I would still write this blog just for myself (and the boys) but it has made it much more interesting to have readers and especially comments. How I love comments! So, in honor of you and to thank you for reading my exhaustively written blog, I am having a contest for this 200th post. I will be giving away a $20 gift card to the location of your choice (that I can buy in person or online--some off the wall place in some random town won't work, sorry!). Just leave a comment and what you would choose--the winner will be chosen randomly, don't feel like you have to be creative just something you would enjoy. So, get to entering! You have one week! Now onto my week, wasn't it nice of me to post that first and not at the end?

O week was a little disjointed due to the holidays. We found plenty of Os but it was a little weird. Like we ate O foods, oranges, Oreos, and onion rings. We also explored the shape an O makes, while tubing. And we did go to some O related places like the Olympic Oval (which wasn't even really the Olympic Oval, I didn't want to go to Salt Lake in the snow so we went to the Peaks which I worked at during the Olympics, so that counts!)

And it turns out we hate ice skating. Seriously, once around the rink and they were done! And it reminded me that I stink at ice skating. I was holding the side to stay up, how in the world did I think I could help the boys learn? I was hoping to use the little walker things they had but alas they were out. A big thanks to Robbie for being a trooper to come and help and especially to The Peaks who surprisingly refunded all my money when I told them they hated it and we'd only been there 20 minutes. Great huh? If your kids don't hate ice skating, go there!

Here's an O shape we found at the dino museum we went to on a play date with my boss's wife.

Who doesn't love a giant magnifying glass? My Jr. scientists.

We also welcomed 2-O-10 with a party at our house with Lowell's family. Hooray for ending the year with lots of great food (so we could start our diet the next day feeling fulfilled).

Carter

Davis

We love "firebooms" and I have to say it is great to do fireworks in the snow, the fire worry sure drops dramatically. The horses behind our house weren't too happy with us though. I had planned to let the boys stay up until midnight (since they stay up nearly that late a lot of nights anyway--after being put to bed at 9) but they were pretty cranky so we counted down to 10 pm cheered and shouted then put the little ones to bed. We had intended to go to bed with them but visiting with family filled the last 2 hours and we were still up chatting and eating to see the ball drop on 2010. Welcome new year, I hope you hold some wonderous things for our little family.

New Year's Day it has become our tradition to sled with my family. I really do adore sledding and thanks to my sisters' connections we get the best sled hill around (At the gardens) all to ourselves.

Reva, her sister and her boys were kind enough to join us. Here's Reva dragging Andrew and Davis I believe.

Big Man Carter--last year they only did so so, this year they LOVED it!

Davis, I love this shot.

Daddy, Cyndel and the boys, these little tubes worked great and were really fast and of course, great Os.

My cutie (single) sisters Cyndel and Hillary

Robbie joined us too

Davis in motion

Cyndel and Carter

Our family

My sibs, BJ was home with his 3 month old

All 4 little boys piled onto one tube, they had so much fun!

My family of 4 piled onto 1 tube, this really scared me, but it worked out fine

My fambly (minus BJ, Angela, and Jonny)--Carter was mad because we were leaving. 2 hours of sledding and the kid still bawled when we left. We'll have to go back. Amazing to me, my feet weren't even cold.

So I had thought to go see Oma in Ogden or go to the Oquirrh temple but we ended up at the Hill Airforce aerospace museum. Nope, no connection though it is close to Ogden and we saw the word Ogden several times. We were up there after watching Diners-Drive In's-and Dives on Food Network where they highlighted a restaurant in Roy. So we ate there, it was good.

Carter in a pilot's seat

Both boys in the cock pit of a plane

Davis being cutie aviator boy

And on the moon

Look how teeny my boys look compared to the plane, they are by the wheel. It was actually a really fun museum which I'd like to go back to again when I have more time (read, when I can actually read all the exhibits without little boys wanting to run on ahead).

Then Sunday, get this--we actually went to sacrament meeting and it went okay. Wow, first time in . . .really can't remember. And my teeny little boys are now CTRs, not Sunbeams. I can't even believe it, their teachers got them rings and everything. So special (except when I asked Davis was CTR stood for and he said it said that I needed to give him some candy).

In other news, this weekend we finally ditched the nap. 4+ years I have held onto nap because I never envisioned the way to more sleep was actually to lose it. But so far it has been great, we're skipping nap and then putting them down at 7:30 instead of 8:30. 3 days in a row now my Carter bug who will stay up past 11 has been asleep by 8:30. And they are sleeping until after 8, my biggest worry since I don't get much sleep due to my work schedule. They have been a bit more pleasant also, except during when they used to nap. So, we'll see how this goes (fingers crossed). Carter particularly just has to get more sleep, sleep-deprived preschoolers will mimic the symptoms of ADHD--so if they have it or not, more sleep would certainly help.

In more big news, the boys start preschool again tomorrow! Crazy, huh? What a weird week. I was driving home from the gym and felt prompted that I needed to put the boys in preschool. So I thought, planning on it in the fall. And the feeling was like no, now. And I thought no way am I going to find a good school to take them now. So I posted about it on facebook and one of my twin friends recommended the preschool at the high school by me. I emailed the teacher back and forth, submitted applications and deposits, and volia, they start tomorrow. And get this, my raise covers exactly their tuition. Does the Lord love me or what? Getting my work schedule changed so that I have more weekends off and can go to church more has been blessing us in mysterious ways. I am still very nervous about this, so wish us luck. I am hopeful that in a room full of helpers (the class is supervised by 1-3 teachers but run by high school students) 1-2 disruptive children won't be such a problem. Plus my little lady's men can charm teenagers so well--I think older women are a little immune to their skills, but these high schoolers will be wrapped around their fingers in no time. I sure hope it all works out, and that I can find something to do with myself tomorrow, I am going to miss my playmates!

See why I posted the contest at the top? Who is even still reading this?!? Well, I love you all either way.