Life in Photos

July 29, 2013Leave a comment

One evening, we went to the tabernacle to guide tours (or more appropriately, leave the door unlocked and let people wander around). I found a great spot to take a picture of my boys. This is the best it gets.

We ate lunch at Marble Park in Bothwell. It was a fun park, up until PB slipped in a pile of mud. And then Mr. C followed.

Here are some picture of playing outside. How did I ever live without a yard for the kids to play in? It is everyone’s favorite thing to do.

We took a train ride on Frontrunner down to visit Grandma. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it better than driving two kids by myself. Although I know at least one man moved because we were a little loud.

Hiking. I don’t know if this really counts, it is a 1/4 mile nature trail ing American Fork canyon. But just the right size for PB.

Art

July 25, 2013Leave a comment

I’m not afraid of a mess. I love kid art, but only when it is not stupid cutesy crafts that PB doesn’t want to do anyway and never turn out right. I prefer open-ended art. It usually doesn’t end up looking spectacular, but is such a better process. I get to see my kid experiment and be creative. It is much easier to involve him in these sort of projects too.

I mixed paint, water and glue in glue bottles. It started off on paper, but we quickly had to pull out the cardboard. And the picture looks messy, but it only took 10 minutes to clean up.

This is more glue paint. But now it is blood, and there are bandages for the ‘cuts’. We were talking about first aid, hence the project.

Freehand painting. We use tempura paint, and it cleans up nicely.

The Zoo

July 23, 20133 Comments

My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I didn’t have a good answer for her, but later on I thought of a perfect present. I asked her to go to the zoo with me. On my birthday, we wandered the zoo with three very adorable children (Mr. C, PB and their cousin).

Lego photo op:

At the bird show:

The polar bear swam around and plunged at the window, again and again. This was the best part of the zoo, and PB still brings polar bears into his play.

These kids are tired after a long day at the zoo:

Brothers

July 12, 20131 Comment

You get in all my toys
It make me punch and yell
I like to wrestle you around
And knock you to the ground
But then late at night when you start to weep
I offer “I’m here, don’t cry”
It calms you down, mom doesn’t come
And we both drift off to sleep

Dinosaur Park

July 10, 20132 Comments

We went on a short bike ride down the Ogden River Parkway first (the trail starts right by the dino park). The weather was beautiful.

We met my parents and went to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. There are lots of statues of dinosaurs outside, including photo ops like these:

PB was scared to get close, but I think he did finally understand that T-rex couldn’t eat him. He had another panic attack when we went inside and saw robotic dinosaurs. Those ones did move.

There was a sand pit to dig up dinosaur fossils: Mr. C wore the right shirt.

We also enjoyed the learning center, outside playground, and indoor museum. Great place to go visit.

Hot Summer

July 3, 2013Leave a comment

The last week has been hot. So here’s some ways to beat the summer heat.

First reaction: freak out. Glad I didn’t act on that one and instead went and joined the impromptu party the kids created. I was planning on vacuuming that day anyway.

Joe finally replaced his hand-me-down bike with a good commuter bike. (He bikes to work daily.) This one has a luggage rack, fenders, and best of all a bell. We promptly took a bike ride to the pool.

We were testing the ability of toys to sink or float.

Playing with ice cubes on a hot summer day.

Enjoying the fireworks. Even the one-year-old stayed up and enjoyed them.

Fitting In

June 25, 20131 Comment

It takes a while after moving to figure out a new house and new rhythm, find friends, and connect to the community. I feel like I’m finally settling in here: letting go of the things that don’t work, making new paths, new friends. It does take time, but I’ve found with a lot of effort anyplace I’ve lived has turned into a home, and we have grow to love the place and the people around us.

Angry eyes. C has figured out how to scowl, and he uses his scowl all the time to express disapproval or joke around.

This project cost $1.50 and about 10 minutes. PB loved it. It is very multi-functional: make shapes on the geobaord, snap the band to make sounds, and makes mazes for the balls.

Painting with chalk paint. Simple mix of cornstarch, food coloring and water. PB made a playground. C made some colorful spills.

Kids playing in the mini-sandbox with Grandma.

Around and Around

June 18, 2013Leave a comment

I probably keep our family a bit too busy, but I love to go do things. My day is better if I get out of the house. Lately, we have mostly visited parks. Plus we have lots of family around to invite along or visit, which I love.

So he’s an inch away from being too tall to ride this. But he’s the perfect (or only?) age to enjoy it. He is a tall kid. Sometimes even I have to remember he is only three, even if he looks like he could pass for much older.

Here are some activities we’ve done. C did enjoy this one. He yanked out the pipe cleaners. PB turned it into a castle, junkyard, and a snake infested home. I love his creativity.

I pulled out my old drafting supplies. I prefer the computer. But these guys had fun with it.

This might be an interesting picture. But this is one of C’s favorite things. He will sit there forever, listening and watching to the wash go around and around.

Other mildly interesting events:

C won our family home evening game, fair and square. We played chutes and ladders, and even C could spin. PB cheated, I took second, and Joe gave up after another trip down the big slide.

PB recently wrote this small, yet awesome song: “You don’t have to get into trouble, trouble, trouble,” or the short version “your don’t get into trouble, trouble.” It’s pretty awesome, and as far as I can tell, completely original. He loves music, mostly listening, but then he will start singing along to some pretty complex songs.

Birds

June 11, 20131 Comment

We went out to the bird refuge and drove the loop and dropped in at the visitors center. I enjoyed it and the kids didn’t seem to mind much. When PB got home he said to Dad unprovoked, “We saw a great blue heron on the road.” I was impressed he remembered the name. Curtis practiced saying “Duck” very close to his word-of-the-week “Stuck.”

Otherwise, we are just having good summer fun. I hung up my hammock, we’ve got out the slip’n ‘slide and pool, and I hacked together a small sandbox that Peter loves. The boys keep me busy and on my toes. Sometimes (especially if they or I are tired), things can get a bit exasperating. C is learning how to climb and get into everything, and they both know how to complain. But we have such good fun together too. They make mundane tasks like getting an oil change done new and exciting.

Trip

June 4, 20131 Comment

We went up to Nevada to visit my sister. And my sister takes better pictures, so just go over to her post. I drove about 17 hours alone with the boys. It wasn’t too bad. Not that I would recommend it. The kids didn’t sleep as much as hoped, but we only had one bad tantrum where I had to pull off to the side of the freeway. The trip was a lot of fun.

I’ve been thinking of preschool for PB and have been a little hesitant. I realized why lately. He’s finally old enough to play with and I don’t want to send him away. I still haven’t decided what I want to do, but I have realized I love being his mom. I love doing activities with him, teaching him and playing. He’s old enough play is more involved and actually engaging to me, not just him.