Goliath, Hopper, & Mr. Blinky

AP had several tadpoles in his classroom this year which he loved. So the last week of school his teacher asked me if it would be ok for him to take one home to keep. I didn't see any harm in that so meet Goliath (he was the largest of the bunch).
She gave us tadpole food and said that we could get purifier drops for the water at the pet store or do what she did which was go down to the river bottom and get new water every week. A weekly visit to the river bottom actually sounded like a fun summer activity. We've made two trips so far and both have been really fun. Right after our visit yesterday my friend Brooke called to say she was trying to find a new home for Blake's firebelly toads. Again I complied, and so Hopper and Mr. Blinky have joined the ranks.
So today's errands included a trip to the pet store to get crickets. Feeding them carrots before turning them over to the toads make for brighter toad bellies. The things you learn. . . AP has dubbed these guys the Krick family and commented how strange it is that we are feeding them just so they can be fed to the toads. Yep.
And here is the set-up in his room. Brooke also had a tadpole habitat that they no longer needed and turned that over to us as well. It's certainly cuter than the glass tank we were using before. And I've gotta admit I'm a little fascinated by it all myself. Hopefully that lasts. . . Oh that Peanut Butter jar to the far right contains a snake skin. Boys *sigh*

Sparkle, sparkle

D's first experience with fireworks. He was fascinated by the sparklers until they were done burning and he touched the hot part. It didn't burn him, but it was hot enough to scare him so he didn't want to do anymore. If you look closely in the background you can see AP trying to light the grass on fire, little Pyro. J assures me that all boys are that way so there is no need to worry. I'm just glad that fireworks are limited by law. . .

Inspirational!

My parents have a time-share in Park City so every summer we go and spend at least a day or two with them while they are there. A & A love it and look forward to it every year. However, this year we had a hard time swinging it because of school, but I did take the older two kids Friday night after J got home from work. They had a great time swimming, going on the mountain roller coaster, and riding the trolley among other things. AJ even tried karaoke for the first time and did a super job! I had a great time shopping the outlet stores with my mom and sister, while my sweet dad kept track of the kids. Of course I forgot my camera, so no pictures.

And even though we were all excited to go to Park City I was a little sad that we would be missing the city's 4th of July activities on Saturday. Especially the coin dive at the pool that my friend Janay was in charge of. So I told J (who had stayed home with D) that he should go to support her. So he did, but come to find out it was actually for ages 3 and up so D was a little out of his league. J sat with him on the pool stairs and tried to direct him (he wasn't allowed to actually help), but D was pretty timid and only got one coin.

Still it was totally worth the story I got the next day. Janay taught the Laurel lesson on Sunday and at the end said, "Ok, I hope this doesn't embarrass Heather, but since we're done with the lesson and I have been dying to tell her this story I'm just going to tell it now." So she went on to tell the class how her whole family was dying over J's physique at the pool. Her nephew said, "Someone needs to tell that guy to put a shirt on, he's making us all look bad," and her son said, "I know. He doesn't just have a six-pack. I counted at least two extra and know there are muscles there I didn't even know existed." Then her brother-in-law said, "I'm just glad I'm not in his ward. Man if he were my home teacher my wife would always be sick and insist that he come over to help me give her a blessing." So we all had a good laugh over that, but seriously as hard as he works he's earned the compliments.

Here's Mr. Muscles himself using his day off to push rocks around the yard. It's not a great action shot, but since I didn't want him to see me taking pictures I had to be careful of my angle.

Yep, all of those are just waiting to be moved, and he's the one doing it!

He would push several into place then flop on the ground for a minute before getting back to it. I was amazed! I mean those things are big and HEAVY and while it may not look very far, I'm sure it felt like it! It made me tired just watching him and he was at it for hours.

Here he is a few weeks ago muscling his way around the yard with the boys and cat in tow.

Aaaaaah! Dad goes way too fast!

Dad's weekend

I asked J what he wanted to do Father's Day weekend, telling him that if he wanted to go somewhere or if he wanted me to take the kids somewhere so he could have some quiet time or work on things around the house in peace he could. Like the truly awesome dad that he is, he said he really wanted to spend the day with us at the zoo (he has been wanting to get D there ever since it got warm). He even woke up early Saturday to get his workout in as well as some things done around the yard before we left a 9. He is the man!

The fun begins!

Who do you think is most excited to ride the train?

They had a great time on the playground. D loved the crocodile and the egg, and they all liked the giant spider web (so much in fact that we are thinking of building one in our backyard). AJ was the spider and AP her victim. D was trying to rescue AP. AP and AJ had fun in the gopher holes too.

The carousel was great too. You can see how pleased AJ was to get a cheetah, AP the bug lover chose a praying mantis, and D is just happy to be with his daddy.

Sunday morning we had scrambled eggs (one of his favorites) and opened presents. AP gave him a coupon book, which J is not only excited to cash in on, but the pictures in it were so cute and fun that they kept D entertained for part of Sacrament meeting.Of course he got some D&D minis and I found some cool scripture hero cards at Seagull book to go with them. He's considering putting together some scripture adventures for us. . .
AJ made him this card containing a poem she wrote. In every picture she has ever made, she has always colored him brown and left the rest of us stark white. I think her teachers must be surprised when they actually meet J that we are not a multi-racial family.

Here is her poem:
Jeff
Serious Silly
Running Hiking Joking
BYU Fan Worker Golfer Father
Loving Laughing Playing
Busy Fun
Dad

according to AP

Conversation while tucking AP into bed last night. . .
Me: Love you bud
Him: Love you too. (pause) It's hard to raise kids, isn't it?
Me: Well yes, it is, but I love you and I'm grateful I get to be your mom.
Him: And I'm grateful I get to be your kid.

And there you have it. Parenting is by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. But as hard as it can be those moments of gratitude make it so worth it. Here is another funny one.

Overheard today while AP was talking to his friend. . .
AP: My mom said I can't go [swimming] today because I'm having a babysitter. Yeah she's going on a date with my Dad, and believe me you DO NOT want to see them on a date. They kiss and hug a whole bunch. It's disgusting.

Veggie Derby

May's Pack Meeting was really fun. They did a veggie derby which the boys loved! And it was really fun for the adults to see how creative the boys got with their veggies. The actually racing was pretty funny too. However, I left craving roasted potatoes and onions; it smelled so good with all of those cut up veggies!

Here is AP's car the Veginator; looks frightening I know

especially for unsuspecting fruit. . .

poor guy

meet fruit kirby, aka the fruit avenger; only he is powerful enough to withstand the Veginator

Project complete!

Well it only took me 7 years, but this is now complete!

I bought it at a yard sale when we lived in AZ. I was actually looking for a bookshelf, but my friend Cathi convinced me that it would look so cute in my dining area. She was right! But I have always wanted to paint it to dress it up a little. Anyway I never found the time in AZ, and it didn't fit in the dining area of our last house. So I used it in the craft room as extra desk/shelf space, and the table top got pretty marked up as a result. Since I now have room for it in the dining area, and the top needed to be sanded and refinished anyway, I decided to go ahead and do the whole thing like I had originally planned to.

Here is the before (7 yrs ago)

And a close-up of the after.

I refinished the table top and painted and distressed the rest of it with paint and glaze I already had on hand. I took apart the hutch, thinking it would be so much faster to paint and would look nicer in the long run if I didn't have to worry about corners and taping. Well the painting part did go much quicker, but putting it back together was a different story. I wasted so many hours and even more tears trying to get that beast back together. I finally enlisted J's help (why didn't I do that in the first place? Well because I am an independent and capable woman *wink*) . It still took a couple of hours, but was so much easier with two! It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it and it is so nice to be able to check something off the list.

Best Friends

Today while we were walking through the frozen vegetable isle in Walmart, D gave me a big hug and said, "mmm mommy. Best fwennnss." It really came out of nowhere and I'm not even sure where he picked that phrase up, but I'm so glad he did because it totally made my day!

What is that smell?!

My house reeks of onion because I turned my back on a two-year-old! While I was on the phone he found the garlic powder (it was hiding on the lazy-susan, but he somehow managed to discover it anyway), got the lid off, and dumped almost the entire contents on the floor. I was just across the room, but not quick enough to salvage much of the powder. It was completely full, sigh.

I guess since it's taking us so long to get a sandbox in he decided to take matters into his own hands. I mean who needs one when you have onion powder? And I gotta admit, onion powder is not as gritty or abrasive. It's certainly pungent though.Of course he had to clean up his mess. . .

which isn't so bad when you get to use the super-cool vacuum!!!

quiet moments

sweet soft cheeks, tiny hand in mine, that warm little body snuggled close to me. I love those tender moments, rocking in the chair, after songs have been sung and stories are done. Somewhere between sleep and awake, when that little person feels so wholly dependent on you, in such a quiet, sweet way. If only parenting was always so peaceful and tender!

It's the BOM!

We started reading the Book of Mormon as a family back in January 2009 and hoped to finish by January 2010. We were doing really well and were so close come December, but didn't quite make it. At that point the enthusiasm started to lag so J had this great idea that we should celebrate with cake once we finished(decorated to look like the Book of Mormon of course!). We finally made it to the end this weekend and had a lot of fun celebrating!

The frosting on the cake was a bit tricky. My first attempt just looked like gray sludge (Steel Magnolias anyone?). On my second attempt we had to borrow blue food coloring, and used their whole tube. . . I added a little chocolate and a tiny little bit of black decorative frosting. Not quite right, but I thought it was pretty good. Of course the kids had many suggestions: The frosting is pretty good, but the real book looks just a little bit darker. It looks good Mom, but it would look really good if we did white around the edges for pages. How come the words are yellow instead of gold? . . .next cake I think I will try fondant, and let them do the details.

We also thought it would be fun to dress as Book of Mormon characters and play a guessing game. Now let's see if you can figure it out! (BTW everyone came up with their own costumes and clues).
AJ: I traveled through the Wilderness with my parents and brothers. Married one of the sons of Ishmael.
AP: Not an actual BOM character, but is mentioned (he thinks). One word hint, "Egypt."
H: My character was around when King Lamoni was overcome by the Spirit. I went to tell all the people about the great miracle that was happening.

J: brandishes sword and looks to his flag. I mean who needs words with those bulging biceps and great stature?

And what about D? He was off hunting animals and didn't come back until much later. We did make out something about bears and I think he was trying to tell us that he had been praying the rest of the time, but we're still not sure.

And there you have it! Did you figure it out? I guess now it's time to start over although AJ said she wants to do the Bible next because it has WAY more girl characters to choose from.

Rainbow of Ribbons

Friday was AP's annual sports day, and he did an awesome job! Of course since I forgot my camera this would be the year that he placed in every event he competed in. He received 1st in the 50 yard dash, 2nd in the softball throw, and 3rd in the standing long jump. However, I think he was more excited to have a ribbon of every color than to win the 50 yard dash! When people congratulated him on winning the dash he would thrust out his ribbons and say something like, "The best part is that now I have a ribbon of every color! Just what I always wanted." I love it!

Wonderfully Wicked!

AJ performed in her first play this weekend (Wonderfully Wicked Witches of Oz) as Princess Ozma. I was so pleased with how well she did! It was so fun watching her get into her part. She did a great job of staying in character even when she wasn't speaking or singing. In one scene her group was in the background where they were supposed to laugh on cue. She laughed so hard that she stumbled off her platform (cracked me up!). Great job AJ (and a special thanks to Grandpa, Grandma, and Amber who came to watch)!

This girl's got attitude!

musical number "Defying gravity"

"Wild thing" costume(didn't get a good shot of her solo :( )

The end.

Mother's Day

I had an awesome Mother's day! Saturday morning J sent me off to enjoy some freedom. I got 4 hours of shopping bliss! No whining, no begging, no protesting or complaining. Lovely. I even came upon Downeast's huge sidewalk clearance sale and came away with a skirt and four shirts for $15. Oh, how I love a good deal!

That night AJ and I went to our city's scholarship pageant. The daughters of two different friends were competing and they won queen and 1st attendant! AJ enjoyed it so much that she has now determined that she wants to go every year until she is old enough to compete herself :). Sunday morning she cut out all the contestants pictures from the program so she could play with them. Since we have a rule that they need to read or draw things related to Christ and the scriptures during Sacrament meeting, she told me that she was pretending they were her future Young Women's class. She did play quietly with them the whole time so we'll let that go.

Sunday morning J presented me with a new camera, YAY! I still need to learn the various settings, but so far the lighting is turning out better. These pictures are of Sunday afternoon; everyone was on their own to make sandwiches for lunch. Of course AJ and I didn't waste any time getting ours ready! Hope your Mother's day weekend was wonderful as well!

Off-track and loving it!

My kids are on another break from school and so far so good. For the most part they are getting their chores done quickly and enjoying the activities I planned for them (also we have not done any worksheets this time so that helps their disposition). Here are just a few of the things we have been doing.

We have a subscription to Family Fun magazine which I LOVE! The Spring edition had a great article about terrariums, which I knew my kids would enjoy. We went to IFA and Michael's to get supplies. AJ chose Irish moss and Archers gold and got hers put together fairly quickly. Of course AP wanted something a little more exciting, so we are still trying to find a Venus Fly Trap (anybody around here know where to get a healthy one?). He did get his first layer done though, and hopefully we'll get the plant to put in it this week. Here's AJ's finished project.


These are the moments I love. I told them they needed to read or draw quietly while I put D down for his nap, and they did! After I was done with D I came upon this:

And finally the pottery wheel. Everytime A&A have seen this pottery wheel in the store they have asked for it and I have refused. I was afraid it would be another junky thing that promises glorious fun and just ends up being a big pain and mess. Well AJ was with me in Target a couple of weeks ago and saw it on the clearance isle. Of course she begged me for it, and I was reluctant, but let her carry it around while I thought about it. When it was time to check out I decided to go ahead and get it. It has been a huge success (it has been pretty messy so I made them take it outside, but they have been pretty good about cleaning it up). They spent hours with it the first day they were off-track making bowls and vases. It was so nice to see them quietly entertained and getting along so well while they were working away. Here they are painting their creations. The cutest part was when they broke into song (unsolicited). I guess I should also explain that AJ is in her swimsuit because we went to the pool a little later.

BOY Cousins!

Whenever AJ does a sleepover with Kate's girls AP complains how unfair it is that there are no boy cousins his age nearby to do sleepovers with. Well J's other sister and her family came down for a wedding and stayed with us Friday night, so he finally got his sleepover. The kids had a great time, although the visit was way too short! While Stacey & Daniel were at the wedding dinner we went to the park where the boys had a great time crawling through the tunnels and running around. The babies spent most of the time in the swings (no pictures). After we got back AJ helped me make cupcakes while the boys played Wii. Once the cupcakes were baked and cooled they had fun decorating them. Then it was time for bed. Matt gave the sweetest prayer saying how grateful he was for AP and his cousins and how sad he was to leave the next day.

AJ and Sam. She didn't want to wake up and he perfectly happy to play along. . .

Final game time, just before they left (they were literally walking out the door while AP was trying to show them some part of the game). The boys were so sweet to share the games they brought with AP. AP has been so sad since they left. He keeps saying how cute Sam is singing the Star Wars theme and asking "where [AP]," and how great the older boys are. He was so happy to have a sleepover with some boy cousins.