Monday, June 27, 2011

A few new things

I have been such a slacker about taking pictures lately. I don't know why but life seems so much busier in Utah. Before I know it my days are gone. But busy is good, I'd rather be busy than bored.

Maggie looked so cute for church the other day and I tried to get a cute picture but she refuses to be still so this is the best I got. The image I had in my head of the way I wanted it to look was better, but this one is okay too!
Doesn't this look like a dangerous shot? Tyler's legs are through the railing overlooking downstairs. Looks like he is about to jump off!
We went to the park to feed the ducks at Salem Pond, but to my surprise and the kids' disappointment there were no ducks to be had. Well, I guess that's not entirely true--there was a mama ducks with 4 ducklings but they didn't want anything to do with us or our stale bread. Oh well. The kids played at the small park there (did I mention it was small? and old--it still has a metal slide--those of us born before 1980 remember those burned bottoms!) and Tyler was my swing pusher!
Joey had fun watching the kids play. Luckily he was happy in his stroller for most of the time. He is such a fun little chunk. I just love to squish and squeeze him!
And Jacob showed us all his penchant for the monkey bars--I had to watch him every time he went across--which was many many many times.
My kids had some so-called "washable" colored bubbles that they have been waiting to play with once the weather warmed up. They decided to get them out the other day and I agreed thinking it would be fun and keep them occupied while I tried to sweep away some of the dirt from our sod laying party. Well, I was thinking "colored bubbles" would just be lightly tinted or something along those lines. Boy was I ever wrong. Look what happened...

They were absolutely covered. In blue, green and orange. And so was my driveway--oh, and the "washable" claim? Untrue. I even had my brother-in-law spray off the stains with a power washer and they are still there. Lighter, but there. Ugh. I even made sure to read the bottle first and it said, and I quote, "Rinse off asphalt and concrete with a garden hose." Ummmm, sorry Crayola--I should sue them for false advertising. What a mess. Plus I had little orange handprints all along the wall in the garage. Ugh again.

With all the business going on, we've gotten creative with Joey. Here he is playing in the back of the van while I sprayed (tried to) the bubbles off the drive.
And just yesterday the boys were in charge of watching Joey while I was cleaning up and I came upstairs to this.....
They had put Joey in their laundry basket (it was empty of dirty clothes, thank goodness) with some toys to keep him happy. And guess what? He sat in there happy as a clam for a good half hour at least. He probably would've stayed in longer if I hadn't gone and gotten him to change his diaper. Who knew?

Sunday, June 12, 2011

I've got some catchin' up to do...

Where does time go? It seems like the older I get the faster and faster it passes. I promise to make an effort to post more frequently! We're mostly settled here in our new house. A few things left with the house but they are small, and the yard is in the process of completion. It still looks like an empty dirt plot but now there are sprinklers under that dirt. Hooray!

It has finally stopped raining so much and the kids have been loving playing outside. They are getting pretty creative too....notice Jake's addition to his scooter.... Yes, those are deer antlers.
Joey is growing like a weed. I don't get many pics of him, partly because I am busy but it is mostly because he starts crying whenever people leave his side. So he will be doing something cute, but as soon as I get up to get the camera he starts crying...and that means no more photo-op of cuteness. But if he's around people he's usually relatively happy. Big smile, love it. And he has the BEST laugh of any little baby, as you will see later.
Noteworthy happenings: Jacob learned to ride a 2-wheeler. It took about 2 minutes. Nice. Now we can't get him off his bike!
There was a little carnival at Tyler's school. Lots of fun activities. Here are the boys jousting. I am thinking about buying one of these for the basement--you know, as a way for the boys to work out some aggression.
There was a little "train" made from a tractor pulling these cute cars....
Jacob turned 5! He had a party with old friends, new friends and family. It was great. The prize for favorite present goes to Aunt Jessica and family with the pillow pet alligator. He does love all his presents though.
As I mentioned the yard is currently under construction. Uncle Cory has been over doing the sprinkler system for us. What's great about Cory is that even though I am sure he'd like to just get the job done, he always takes the time to let the kids have some fun--Tyler got to drive the Bobcat and here they are getting a ride in the bucket...
We went out to Winger's restaurant last week or whenever (my brain is in some kind of time warp) and my kids were TERRIBLE! And when I say that, I mean it! Usually my kids are just okay at restaurants. Not great but not horrible, after all, they are only 1/2, 2, 5 and 7. I can't expect little angels. But they were downright devils! It was so bad it was comical. Literally Eric and I were laughing about it--only because we were at an early lunch and we were the only people in the place. I did catch them in a sweet, quickly fleeting, moment.
Tyler is playing coach pitch baseball. He is really enjoying it and doing well. I will take some pics at the next game--I usually have to drag all the kids to the game by myself because Eric is still at work so picture taking takes a back seat. But I did get this great one at a game Eric was able to attend--Joey loved hanging on to the fence. It was the only way we could keep him happy. Look how cute...
Besides a bunch of dirt, my backyard also has a big hole--actually it is all ready for the in-ground trampoline. But it looks like the kids don't care about the jumping, they have just as much fun playing in the hole!
I couldn't find Maggie yesterday and I found her in the garage. She had put her helmet on herself....
We went to a fun park and had a picnic with cousins. Just a few snapshots....

All Maggie wants to do at the park is swing....the whole time.
Joey's first time on a swing; he liked it!
Tyler on a spinning seat--they spin by themselves and make you (me) very dizzy!
And today I made a chocolate cake to bring to a dinner at a friend's house (yes, i am starting to make friends...hooray!) and I walked in the kitchen to find this... little stinker.
And last, but not least, do you remember earlier when I said Joey has the best laugh? Here's the proof...