Reunion

Last Tuesday night I got a phone call from Michele, one of my college roommates.  She lives in Washington and going to be in Salt Lake City for a last minute trip and wanted to see if we could get together.  She has five kids and we scrambled to make room for seven people to hunker down at my house for two days. 

Michele's kids are absolutley delightful.  We had a great time even though we didn't get to spend a lot of time together as they tried to tour Utah in one day. 

It was great to see Michele and her family.  I'm so glad that it worked out to have them stay with us!

Beau

Lyla and Sophia

Tyjah

Halle

Yep, Tyjah is the shy one of the group!  Ha ha!

I'm Going to the Zoo

Last Friday I went to the zoo with my kids, my mom, my niece Klayre and my nephews Cooper and Tanner.  We had a great time at the zoo.  The weather was nice- overcast and not too hot or too cold- just perfect for me!  Jane had a tough time wanting to take a nap in her stroller as she usually only sleeps in her crib, but after crashing for a short nap, she was good to go until we could get her home in her own bed. 

Seth went missing for a while and it was a tense few minutes until we found him.  He couldn't see us, so he went to the meeting place we had discussed at the beginning of our zoo adventure.  I was proud of him for remembering where to meet and for actually being able to find it!  I was quite relieved to have him back with our group!

This is the take- a-picture-of-everyone-so-if-anyone-gets-lost-we-have-a-photo-to-show-what-they-look-like-and-what-they-are-wearing-picutre

I remember being afraid of this drinking fountain when I was a little girl!  Look at how brave I am now!

Jane 2011

Jane 2010 for comparison, this is how Jane measured up last year when we went to the zoo!

Seth is all smiles after we found him. My heart was still skipping a beat now and again, but I was glad to have him with me!

Jane was content to hang in her stroller and sip her juice.  Have you seen the juice boxes with the spout on them?  They are wonderful!  Jane does well with them and I can put the lid on if she didn't finish drinking the juice! 

Klayre and Grandma

The Magic Watermelon

Seth had a 'wiggly' tooth.  It had been hurting, but it wasn't super wiggly and loose, it just slightly moved when he pushed on it with his fingers.  We were eating dinner and he was really struggling with eating the corn on the cob.  His tooth hurt and he wanted something easier to eat.  I gave him a slice of watermelon and told him to eat some.  He said that maybe if he ate the watermelon, his tooth would fall out like it did in a cartoon he watched when the character ate the apple.  Ya, maybe, but I doubt it.  Well, he took a bite of his watermelon and his tooth fell out!  He was so excited! 

I took him outside to take a picture of his missing tooth.  He was having a difficult time giving me a 'real' smile.  Here is what I got from him.

Seth, give me a bigger smile- a real smile.

What?  You did give me a real smile.  Okay, then give me a crazy smile!

Well, how about a crazy smile that shows off your lost tooth?

Yep, I can see the gap where your tooth use to be, but that is kind of creepy.  Can you give me a cute smile?

Okay, that is better.  Can you smile and keep your eyes open?

Yep, eyes are open. I think we'll stop here!

Congratulations on losing your first tooth Seth!  I am so glad that the tooth fairy remembered to visit you!  (She has been known to be a little forgetful sometimes!) Thank you for being excited about receiving $1, as I know you were not so secretly wishing for a twenty!

I Never Said That

We have been working on using kind language toward each other in our family.  The other day Seth ran into the house to tell me and Daniel that Paul said that Seth was stupid.  Do I like the tattle-tale?  No.  Did I want to deal with it?  No.  A minute later Paul came in the house (Seth had left the kitchen at this point).  It is always nice when the kids come to you instead of me having to chase them down to talk to them about an infraction.  This is how the conversation went:

Daniel: Paul, did you tell Seth that he was stupid?
Paul: No, I never said that.
Me: Seth was just in here and said that you called him stupid.  Why would he say that?
Paul: (rolling eyes) I never said that.
Daniel: What were you two doing out there, were you fighting or having a disagreement?
Paul: No, we were just playing in the sandbox.
Daniel: What were you doing or saying that would make Seth think that you said that he was stupid?
Paul: Nothing, we were just talking.
Me: What were you talking about.
Paul: Seth asked me if I thought that he was dumb and I said yes. 

We had to explain that Seth most likely asked the question because he didn't like the way that Paul was treating him.  It was a question that shouldn't have been asked, but it definitely should not have been answered with a yes.  Big brothers can be quite a challenge sometimes!

Things are Changing Around Here

This past month has been full of changes for my family.  Here are the changes, in no particular order:

I permed my hair.  It took the perm REALLY well (almost too well), except for the front two locks.  Go figure.  I'm going to make an appointment to see what my options are for the straight parts.  I really like having the curly hair though! 

I cut the boy's hair.  They needed it so badly!  Mark wasn't too happy to go from super long to shorter, but he wasn't taking care of it and I convinced him that it would be cooler for the summer.    Seth's hair grows a lot slower than Mark's so he only needed a trim.

Paul wanted a buzz cut

Mark was trying really hard to still be 'upset' that he was getting his hair cut.  I can see a smile being held back, can you?

Pre-teen love

Jane's hair is getting long enough that I need to put it in a barrette to keep it out of her face.  She looks so much older with her hair pulled back. 

Mark is acting like a true pre-teen.  He is giving us the 'silent treatment' when he gets upset (doesn't get his way).  We are working on healthier forms of communication.  On the flip side of the pre-teen attitude, he has been a lot more fun to joke around with and interact with.  We have had some great conversations about faith, love, the human body (and all that implies) and friendships.  He is a great kid!

I was sick of the furniture arrangement in the living room.  Daniel 'borrowed' one of the chairs from the living room to use in his office.  He likes the chair and I'm afraid that since he borrowed it 3 months ago, it isn't coming back upstairs anytime soon.  The missing chair really threw off the balance of the room, so I rearranged the furniture and I like the new arrangement!  I shampooed the carpet and then put the furniture back in the room in the new arrangement.  Sometimes I am disgusted with how dirty our floors can get! 

The boys had their last day of school.  I helped with their field day and it was a lot of fun.  The weather was perfectly overcast and warm, but not hot.   The field day had a book theme and I helped with a game to go with the book Captain Underpants.  This book is not my favorite series (in fact it has been banned from our house because of the imitative behavior the boys exhibit after reading them).  The game had the kids dress up in the Captain Underpants uniform and it was hilarious to see the kids run around with the uniform on.  I had to don the uniform a few times to show the kids what to do for the relay race, so I can join in on laughing at how they looked! I had to reassure the kids that the underwear was new!

Captain Underpants AKA Mark

Now that Mark and Paul are older and can handle staying up later, I took them to see the fireworks last night.  It was a last minute decision and I'm glad that we went.  We stopped at the grocery store to get some snacks and I asked a lady in the parking lot where the best place to watch the fireworks is.  She said that they usually watch right there in the parking lot, so we stayed there and it worked out great.  I hate dealing with big crowds of people and this saved me from dealing with them for the most part.  It wasn't the same as watching the fireworks while laying on a blanket on a lawn, but it was still a lot of fun.  The parking lot was full with people there to watch the fireworks. 



This was the best photo of the bunch.  Seriously. 

Jane has four new molars.  Thank goodness they are in.  She was in a lot of pain, but still was pretty easy to deal with.  She just wanted to be held nearly all day long.  It got tiresome for me, but for the most part I enjoyed her wanting all of that cuddle time with me!

I guess that the biggest change of all around here is that Jane is walking.  Or rather she is running!  June 1st she took 5-6 steps before falling, and then she didn't advance more than that for a week or so.  Suddenly she is walking/running everywhere.  She is a blast to watch dance when she is standing up and moving around!  Here is a video that shows her walking (it also shows the new funiture arrangement and Jane's hair in a barrette!)