Discoveries

Since Alex didn't have school today we went with some friends to the Discovery Center.

Johnny's discoveries for the day

1. He is very long winded, proof from the bubble he blew in the picture above and the tantrum he threw over the chicken enchiladas I dared to serve him for dinner tonight. He took one bite and started screaming with his tongue hanging out of his mouth begging for permission to spit the poison back onto his plate.

2. He loves onions. He saw onions on my plate and kept asking for some. I told him that they were all gone but if he'd take a bite of his enchilada I would go cut another one up for him. He finished his plate of enchiladas in no time as long as he got a piece of onion after every bite.

Alex's discoveries for the day

1. Our painstaking trips to the grocery store would be a lot more pleasant if only Alex was in charge.

2. She knows the correct answer to any given question. When Brad came home from work he forgot that she didn't have school today so he asks her "how was school today?" What was her reply? "Good". Good answer Alex. Don't ask a small talk question if you don't want a small talk answer.

My discoveries for the day

1. You can make ice cream in seconds by mixing your ingredients with liquid nitrogen. Quite tasty.

2. Only one cheek is required to balance on a stole while eating ice cream.
(Don't draw conclusions, my nephew had a birthday party tonight, the nitrogen ice cream was made at the Discovery Center earlier in the day)

First Day of Kindergarten

My alarm went off this morning at 7am. 2 minutes later Johnny's internal alarm went off and I heard him open his door and call "Sissy"? As I get to my door I hear Alex say "Johnny I'm in my room, come in here". But before Johnny can get there I fling open her door and jump on her bed wishing her a happy first day of school. She had been awake for a little she says but was just laying in bed. I was glad I was able to catch her before she got out of bed to see the excitement on her face for this day to begin. Before I knew it she was up and dressed in the clothes she had picked out the day before. I whipped up a batch of her favorite breakfast (waffles) which she scarfed down so she wouldn't "miss the bus" yet she still had plenty of time to do her chores and put a star on her chart before heading off to school this morning. We walked to the corner and waited patiently for the bus to come around the bend as my camera clicked away, Alex smiling the entire time. She had a couple of friends there waiting with her and lots of other little kindergartners who were easy to spot, wearing their transportation information around their necks.

After I got the pictures I needed of her getting on the bus I picked Johnny up and ran back to our house, jumped in the truck and caught up to her bus following it the rest of the way to the school. It was fun seeing all the other kids in her class; and her friends that weren't in her class were waiting right next door for their teacher to let them in. I was glad I wasn't the only one with the camera out although I know I was the one taking the most pictures. Some of them were dropping off their first like me, some were dropping off their last and celebrating, one of my friends is 31 weeks pregnant with twins, dropping off her first child for Kindergarten and today happens to be her 30th birthday. Needless to say, she was a little emotional. Her teacher, Mrs. Ledbetter, has all the kids wave to their parents and tell them goodbye as she escorts them into the classroom making a clean breaking point for all the parents. I'm happy about the friends she has in her class, I'm happy for the teacher she got, I'm happy I got the pictures I wanted, I'm happy Johnny's handling it all very well and I'm happy that she's confident and excited for school to begin. It's a good "first day of school morning". I hope the "first day of school afternoon" is just as good!

Movie at the Park

Yesterday we spent the entire day AND night at the park. Our good friend Suzy was head of a huge fundraiser for a local family in need at Settler's Park. They had bounce houses, rock walls, water guns, a dj, food vendors, a huge silent auction and more. So for a good part of my day, I was helping with the set up, then the festivities started at 4pm and went until 9pm. Brad was there watching the kids, this is a huge park (a little too big). The park alone has a big play gym area, swing area, rock climbing area, music area, water area, fishing area, baseball, football, soccer and it's growing every year. I feel like a cameleon whenever I bring them there trying to look in two directions at once. So I was happy to pass that job off to Brad for the evening while I helped with the fundraiser. Once it got dark, the movie started (this night they happened to be playing "Spirit") and the kids settled down on their blanket, placed amongst the 100s of other blankets in front of the big blow up screen. By the time we got done tearing down the fundraiser and packing everything up the movie was just about over and the kids were tired. Alex was saying she was cold and just wanted to be in her bed at home. But then she didn't want to leave the park either. We finally convinced them to take off before the parking lot got packed with exiting cars. What a day, what a success, congratulation Suzy for pulling it off!

And now they're catching up on their sleep (nap time), maybe I should be doing the same. They both kept waking up all night. This happens whenever they are overly tired. I don't understand, when they're tired shouldn't they sleep better? It's no wonder this is only our second time attending the movie at the park. Who knows when our third time will come around. Hopefully we can all catch up on sleep before school starts this Monday. Yeah!

On a side note, I started reading "Breaking Dawn" the other day and I had to hide it up on a high shelf for the last couple of days because I have so much to do. I figured if it's up high enough that I need to use a ladder to get it I won't be inclined to grab it inbetween items on my to do list. Because once I pick it up, I can't put it back down and then nothing gets done and I'm stressed that nothing's done and then I hate the book for making me read it when I had so much that needed to get done.

Every Tuesday, Alex Looses a Tooth

As you can tell from this picture, Alex's hole in her teeth has grown. A couple of days ago she noticed that her other front tooth was crooked, then yesterday it was definitely loose. This morning it fell out in the bath tub. Worried that it would most definitely go down the drain (even though the water wasn't draining) we frantically cleared the tub of all the toys and felt around for the tiny pearly white. Makes sense that she would loose them so close together since she got them in so close together.

Since this morning was looking overcast we headed to Eagle Island State Park to take some portrait pictures of Alex and Johnny. While we were there the kids noticed the people swimming and so after pictures we headed home, grabbed our swim suits and a picnic lunch and headed back for some fun in the sun. We were there for quite a few hours and on the way home it was time for her school to post the Kindergartner's class list so we stopped by the school and found out who her teacher will be and who will be in her class. Her two friends she had preschool with are in another class together but she does know a couple of kids in her class so she was happy with that. I think it'll be good, this way she won't be talking to them during class and can visit with them during recess.

Once we got home Alex was feeling tired and her head was a little warm. Too much sun today so she crashed and we'll once again have to wait until the following day to write to the Tooth Fairy and put her tooth under her pillow. She couldn't help but wonder all day what the Tooth Fairy would bring her this time. "Maybe some shiny new dimes and nickels" she says. "Maybe" I say.

Wow, 10 Years!

Today is mine and Brad's 10 year anniversary. Where has the time gone? We are completely different people than we were 10 years ago, better people, molded together into one. It's hard to believe that we've lived in this house for over 6 years now, that he graduated from BYU 8 years ago and that we met all of 11 years ago. Do the math, we didn't date very long. We met in September of 97 (I had just graduated from high school), we were engaged in March and married in August of 98. Neither of us were looking for love, but love we found and we knew that anything else we did in life from then on we wanted to do together. I remember the first time we met, my friend Sarah and I were visiting a friend in Utah (Melody) for a week over spring break (I was a senior in high school) and we were meeting up with a bunch of her friends from work to go explore the Muddy Putty caves. Brad showed up on his bike and leather jacket and Mel convinced him to give each of us a ride around the block. I couldn't take my eyes off of his rear view mirror and the reflection of his gorgeous blue eyes the entire time. I'm sure he didn't think much of this young high school kid who he would probably never see again. But when I found myself at BYU fall semester Mel hooked us up and one date turned into many dates and eventually into an eternity of dates. Tomorrow we are going to go out to dinner and then enjoy massages to remind us of our trip we took in June to Puerto Vallarta to celebrate this mile stone in our relationship. Happy Anniversary Brad!

Something's Missing

It was unexpected. Driving home from camping on Sunday Alex announces, almost in passing, that her tooth is loose. Apparently she had known about it for awhile because she had talked about it with her cousins yet had forgotten to mention it to me. I almost didn't believe her because she has often announced this in hopes that it would be true and it's always been a false alarm. I told her that it probably wouldn't happen until she was 6 because I didn't want her to be disappointed when she turned 5 and all her teeth were still in place. So she was very proud that it happened while she was still 5, quite an accomplishment on her part apparently.

I kept checking for the next couple of days to make sure it was still there and warned her to be aware of it so she didn't swallow it while she was eating. Then Tuesday night as I was heading out the door for a meeting Alex sticks her tongue through a newly discovered hole in her mouth and asks "where's my tooth?!" Seriously? Right now? I'm heading out the door and you just lost (literally lost) your first tooth? I need to take pictures and help you write a letter, etc. Brad could see the panic building in my eyes and suggests as if it was rather obvious "how about she does that tomorrow and puts it under her pillow tomorrow night?" Alex didn't seem to object, the tooth was quickly found under her chair where she had recently eaten a bedtime snack and I headed out the door. So first thing the next morning we taped the tooth beneath a piece of plastic to some stationary and went about writing our first letter to the Tooth Fairy.

Tooth Fairy
I 'heart' U Tooth Fairy
This is mi first tooth I am 5

Love, Alex

We put it in a safe place until bedtime that night and Alex was sure she was going to wake up as soon as the tooth fairy came into her room. The next morning I found Alex downstairs watching TV as usual but this time she had a dollar bill and 4 quarters clutched in her hand. She was so excited to show me what the tooth fairy left her and to tell me that the tooth fairy "wears a green dress."

Strawberry Mountains

They call them the Strawberry Mountains but they're covered in huckleberries. Everywhere there isn't a trail or a camp spot there are huckleberries growing. The kids were eating them by the handfuls. The Idaho cousins (Our family along with Jason and Tiff's) met up with the Oregon cousins (Brian & Stef's family) for another camping trip this past weekend. We did it 2 years ago and now we'll have to make it an annual event. The kids had lots of fun, staying up late, getting dirty and playing with their cousins all day long.

Johnny and Ethan stuck together like glue and usually had a rope in each hand that they used to pretend they were rock climbing and lassoing everything in sight.

Our second day there we took the kids on a hike to Strawberry lake 1.4 miles from our campsite.

The water was freezing cold but that didn't stop the kids from competing who was the toughest by seeing who could get in the farthest. My kids didn't care much about the dare and mostly stuck to climbing the nearby rocks.

Here's one of my handsome hubby with his usual background music in his ear.

We got the kids these cool youth size North Face sleeping bags and the first night there we had cloud cover and the kids were way too hot. Johnny kept ending up completely out of his sleeping bag and under my cot all through the night. After a few adjustments they slept pretty good the next couple of nights. I need to find some foam pads for them to sleep on though instead of their thermarests because they were sliding around on those way too much. Next time I think a campground with showers are a must, the kids did not like their night time sponge baths but there was no way they were getting into their sleeping bags black from head to toe. Hot showers and baths were warmly welcomed as soon as we got home. Some how it is always worth the effort though, I love being outside away from it all and hope my kids gain a love for the outdoors as well.

Haircuts

As many of you have noticed, recently Alex let me give her bangs. Something she's never had before and never wanted until one day she was frustrated because her bangs were in her face and she asked me irritably "how come my hair is ALWAYS in my face"? My reply: "Well, it's because you won't let me cut bangs, if we cut them above your eyes then they will never be in your face again". She liked that idea and then she had bangs.

Well recently after one of many painful hair brushing episodes I convinced her to let me cut her hair a little shorter. She determined the length and I got to cut off all of the green from swimming and it really is SO much easier to brush out now. She hasn't let me cut her hair since she was 3 and I took her to a hair salon because I didn't want to mess it up. I told them to give her a bob to her chin and they cut it above her ears. She came home, looked in the mirror and proclaimed "I look like a boy". So here it is...Alex with short hair...yeah!

And of course, since Alex was having her picture taken, Johnny had to have his taken as well. He got a haircut too and because he was wiggling too much as always because he didn't want the hair to fall on him so he'd squirm and scream and then the hair would fall in his mouth and he'd scream some more he got his bangs cut as well. Usually I leave a little more in front but this time it was all up to the clippers and it'll just have to grow out. I figure, less hair for summer and he really does look just a little bit older with this new hair cut.


I love this picture for 3 reasons:
1. He has syrup all over his mouth still from breakfast and I wouldn't have noticed it before church unless I had taken his picture (which he insisted on me taking).
2. He's standing in front of the background I threw up for Alex and is obviously way too short for it to work for him but of course, he insisted on standing right there.
3. He is wearing a plaid tie with his plaid shirt that (once again) he insisted on wearing to church today. And although he normally takes his ties off shortly into church, he kept this one on the whole time. Go figure.