Our yard got finished the first part of June, complete with sand box, trampoline, a big area with grass and a garden in the back. Here's to making lots of fun memories this year. Mike is already sick of the sand box and says he wants to plow it under. I do have to agree a little bit, the boys track sand everywhere, but they do love to play in there. We also love having our deck. We try to eat dinner out there when ever we can. It is a great way to spend time as a family.
On June 2nd, I rode in the Little Red Century ride with my sisters and Colleen Barker. I only rode 70 miles, while the rest of them rode all 100. My new philosophy is when it stops being fun, I'm done. And usually right around mile 70 it stops being fun. My hands start to go numb and my bum is killing me and I think, "why I am I doing this to myself", so this time I decide "not to do it to myself" and be done. Nick was nice enough to come and pick me up at the mile 70 rest stop. It was a great ride, an all women race. I've never really drafted off someone, but I got in a group that was doing some drafting for about 15 miles and it was awesome. You could stop pedaling for a few moments and still maintain an 18-20 mile an hour pace. It's amazing how much energy that seems to save. The support was great too. I probably ate more calories in food at the rest stops and lunch than I burned, but who's keeping track. :-)
I decided that I wanted to buy some patio furniture, but I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars to do it, so I started hitting up yard sales on Saturday mornings. It is amazing what you can find and for such a great deal. I have been buying tons of great stuff. (Hopefully you don't see me on an episode of Hoarders anytime soon.) I bought a patio table and 6 chairs for $25 bucks and I've bought a bunch of toys for the boys. I've decided that I'm going to do all my Christmas shopping at yard sales. :-) You can get toys for super cheap, the boys seem to love everything I bring home, and if they break it, no big deal, the most I spent on it is a dollar.
The boys and I have gone swimming a lot. We alternate between the pool at the Village Club House and the pool in Mariah's neighborhood. They are like little fish. They like to jump off the side of the pool and kick around. They also love the hot tub, somehow, we always end up playing in there. (They take after their mom.)
Mike and I bought the Pass of All Passes, we finally got around to using it and we love it. We took the boys to Trafalga and rode some of the rides. The boys did pretty good on most of them, but Caleb got scared and started to cry on the one that goes up and then drops you really fast. It was sad and cute. We also went bowling, which the boys likes for about 5 frames, but then they just wanted to go and touch all the balls. We also went to Seven Peaks Water park with Nick, Mariah and Rebecca. We all had a blast. I want to go back one day with just Mike and I so we can go on all the fast rides together.
I celebrated my 33rd birthday at the end of the month. We went to a movie and to dinner on the actually day and then Rebecca was super nice and hosted a joint birthday dinner for me and her.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
May 2012
More warm weather for May so you know what that means, more bike rides. I rode the SL Century again this year with my sisters. We rode 70 miles, which was just about perfect. My bum was a little sore, but other than that the ride was great. The weather was beautiful and it always makes me so happy to be able to do a sport where you get to see the beauty of Utah. Who knew north Salt Lake and south Davis Counties were so pretty.
The boys love playing. We went to the park a lot. We have been trying to hit different parks around Herriman and their favorite parks are ones that have slides and sand. Whenever we go we make sure to take some buckets and spoons so that they can dig in the sand. There new favorite toys are some .50 cent cars I bought at a garage sale. As I'm typing this, the landscaper is outside working on our yard. I can not express how excited I am to get grass and have somewhere for the boys to play.
Caleb has been saying 'no' to everything lately. Do you want to watch tv? "No TV", he says. Do you want an apple? "No Apple". Mike was talking to him and told him he needs to say yes more. He said, "No Yes".
Whenever Caleb gets mad he snorts though his nose and gives you the stink eye. I have no idea where he picked it up from.
Whenever Owen sees something he really likes, he says, "Love it". Both boys are getting pretty at sharing with each other. However, sharing with other people besides the two of them, needs improvement. Whenever Owen goes into the pantry to get himself a snack he will get Caleb one too. I'm glad they look out for each other.
We bought big wheels for Owen and Caleb and they LOVE riding them. We have a big hill that goes down to the next street that they ride down. However, they tend not to listen very good when they get on their bikes. They want to ride around the block and even when I tell them no, I still find them half way down the street.
We stayed home over the Memorial Day weekend. While it was raining on Saturday, we got a project done around the house. We put an epoxy shield on the garage floor. On Monday we went to the Herriman Memorial Chuck Wagon Breakfast and then I went on a ride with some girls in the neighborhood. That evening we went to a BBQ with the Slade Family. The boys love playing with their cousin and I love getting together with the family. I am so grateful to those who have served and those who held homes together while they served. We are so blessed to have so much freedom and to live in such a wonderful country.
The boys love playing. We went to the park a lot. We have been trying to hit different parks around Herriman and their favorite parks are ones that have slides and sand. Whenever we go we make sure to take some buckets and spoons so that they can dig in the sand. There new favorite toys are some .50 cent cars I bought at a garage sale. As I'm typing this, the landscaper is outside working on our yard. I can not express how excited I am to get grass and have somewhere for the boys to play.
Caleb has been saying 'no' to everything lately. Do you want to watch tv? "No TV", he says. Do you want an apple? "No Apple". Mike was talking to him and told him he needs to say yes more. He said, "No Yes".
Whenever Caleb gets mad he snorts though his nose and gives you the stink eye. I have no idea where he picked it up from.
Whenever Owen sees something he really likes, he says, "Love it". Both boys are getting pretty at sharing with each other. However, sharing with other people besides the two of them, needs improvement. Whenever Owen goes into the pantry to get himself a snack he will get Caleb one too. I'm glad they look out for each other.
We bought big wheels for Owen and Caleb and they LOVE riding them. We have a big hill that goes down to the next street that they ride down. However, they tend not to listen very good when they get on their bikes. They want to ride around the block and even when I tell them no, I still find them half way down the street.
We stayed home over the Memorial Day weekend. While it was raining on Saturday, we got a project done around the house. We put an epoxy shield on the garage floor. On Monday we went to the Herriman Memorial Chuck Wagon Breakfast and then I went on a ride with some girls in the neighborhood. That evening we went to a BBQ with the Slade Family. The boys love playing with their cousin and I love getting together with the family. I am so grateful to those who have served and those who held homes together while they served. We are so blessed to have so much freedom and to live in such a wonderful country.
Friday, May 4, 2012
April 2012
We went to St. George to celebrate Easter. Since Easter was before
the tax deadline, it meant Mike had to stay home and work, so the boys
and I went down with Rebecca, Mariah and Nick. Rebecca was really nice
and drove down with me and stayed at the condo with the boys and I. Mariah and
Nick stayed over at the Barker's place. We all went down Thursday
night. Friday, everyone went on a bike ride in the morning and so the
boys and I ran a few errands and went to the park. We did a little
shopping after they got back and went to dinner at the Pizza Factory,
where Mariah and Nick treated. (It was sure nice of them.) Saturday, we
went to an Easter Egg Hunt at the park. It was over in about two
minutes, but it was fun. Owen was pulling a little tantrum right when it
started, so he was only able to pick up 1 piece of taffy. He didn't seem to care, plus Caleb shared some of his candy with him, so he was fine. Later that morning, everyone decided to go on another ride, this time Rebecca
stayed back with the boys while I went. It was about 18 miles up to
Kayenta. It was an absolutely gorgeous ride, reminds me again why I love
St. George so much. We went to the park again and Mariah watched the
boys while Nick played Pickle Ball against Rebecca and I. (If you've never
played Pickle Ball it is really fun, like tennis but easier.) Anyway,
Nick won every time, except the game Rebecca played against me and then
Rebecca won. :-) We ate Cafe Rio for dinner and played card games.
On Sunday we went to church. The talks were on the Savior and the Spirit was so strong. I'm grateful for my Savior and the wonderful Plan of Salvation and that we can celebrate his resurrection at Easter. We drove home that afternoon and the evening was spent at the Slade's house with a yummy dinner and all the cousins. All the adults sat around after dinner and played Catch Phrase there were a lot of "high fives" going around and we had a great time together.
The weather was really nice during the month, so that meant we could bike ride our little hearts out. We usually went once or twice during the week and rode 15-18 miles and then on Saturday we would ride a longer ride and ride about 30 miles.
Mike worked hard and finished up the tax season. He usually was working until about 9, which wasn't great, but not too bad either, considering past jobs he's worked until 11 just to get back up and be at the office at 7.
We went to my dad and Kim's house one Sunday for dinner and it was delicious. Whenever the boys would get down from eating at the counter my dad would make sure to wipe there hands and faces off every time. Kim and my Dad also tended the boys a couple of times for me. Kim tried to take the boys to the movie by herself, she said Caleb did great and would have probably sat and watched the whole movie, but Owen just wanted to run around. Another time, they each took a boy and ran errands with them. My dad and Owen pulled weeds at his house and then to In N Out burger for lunch where he ate a whole hamburger and half a fry. It sure is nice of them to take the boys and spend time with them.
Owen and Caleb stayed busy with preschool, play dates and going to the park. They have become obsessed with chu-chu's (trains) and they love watching the movie, "The Little Engine That Could".
At the end of the month we got together with some of our 'old' neighborhood friends for a game night. It was a lot of fun to see and talk to everyone from the street (Ashland Rose Dr) and play games. Mike got a rousing game of Risk going with some of the guys, that lasted most of the night, while the rest of us played Telestrations (super fun game) and Ticket to Ride. Luckily Mike was the third person out, so we didn't have to wait around for the game to finish. We stayed until about 11 and I was amazed at how well the boys did. They just played the whole night and went right to bed when we got home.
On Sunday we went to church. The talks were on the Savior and the Spirit was so strong. I'm grateful for my Savior and the wonderful Plan of Salvation and that we can celebrate his resurrection at Easter. We drove home that afternoon and the evening was spent at the Slade's house with a yummy dinner and all the cousins. All the adults sat around after dinner and played Catch Phrase there were a lot of "high fives" going around and we had a great time together.
The weather was really nice during the month, so that meant we could bike ride our little hearts out. We usually went once or twice during the week and rode 15-18 miles and then on Saturday we would ride a longer ride and ride about 30 miles.
Mike worked hard and finished up the tax season. He usually was working until about 9, which wasn't great, but not too bad either, considering past jobs he's worked until 11 just to get back up and be at the office at 7.
We went to my dad and Kim's house one Sunday for dinner and it was delicious. Whenever the boys would get down from eating at the counter my dad would make sure to wipe there hands and faces off every time. Kim and my Dad also tended the boys a couple of times for me. Kim tried to take the boys to the movie by herself, she said Caleb did great and would have probably sat and watched the whole movie, but Owen just wanted to run around. Another time, they each took a boy and ran errands with them. My dad and Owen pulled weeds at his house and then to In N Out burger for lunch where he ate a whole hamburger and half a fry. It sure is nice of them to take the boys and spend time with them.
Owen and Caleb stayed busy with preschool, play dates and going to the park. They have become obsessed with chu-chu's (trains) and they love watching the movie, "The Little Engine That Could".
At the end of the month we got together with some of our 'old' neighborhood friends for a game night. It was a lot of fun to see and talk to everyone from the street (Ashland Rose Dr) and play games. Mike got a rousing game of Risk going with some of the guys, that lasted most of the night, while the rest of us played Telestrations (super fun game) and Ticket to Ride. Luckily Mike was the third person out, so we didn't have to wait around for the game to finish. We stayed until about 11 and I was amazed at how well the boys did. They just played the whole night and went right to bed when we got home.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
March 2012
From what I remember March seemed like a pretty warm month. I know we
went to the park a few times and the boys discovered the fun of swings again.
We
stayed once for two hours and they loved playing on the swings. They
just laid on their stomachs and pushed themselves back and forth and
twisted up the swings and let it swing them around. I could remember it
being warm, because the last two Saturday's I was able to go on a bike
ride. It felt great to get out again and awesome to finally be on a good
bike that I can call my own. Maybe it's the bike or maybe I was just
pumped to be out but it felt like I was faster. (I know, that's not
saying a lot if you have seen what I consider normal speed, but it still felt great.) I've signed up for the SL
Century and Little Red with my sisters and those races are in May and
June, so it is nice to get out and ride. It is so much better to be
outside riding than in a spin class.
Mike has stayed busy with taxes and finished another class for his master's program.
We also went swimming as a family at the rec center a few Saturday's, after Mike finished working. The boys love being in the pool and they are both so brave. They love standing on the edge of the pool and counting 1-2-3 and then jumping into our arms. Owen is especially daring and will jump out to us if we move away from the edge or if we aren't even there. They also love sliding down the slides.
The big news for the month is the boys started pre-school. They have been in early intervention for their speech and had a six month 'test' in the middle of March. Their speech has improved a ton, but they were still behind in a few areas and our counselor thought it would be a good idea to put them in pre-school one day a week. They go on Monday's and they really seem to like it. Their teacher is Miss Sally and they have a good time playing and learning.
Some funny stories for this month: Every time I've opened the oven door I'd tell them it is hot and not to touch. Well now, they love to say everything is hot. Caleb loves to say "oh hot" and really drag out the hot part. He tells me stuff is hot, even when it isn't. He won't even touch his food if it's been in the microwave even if I tell him it isn't hot.
Another funny thing, I got a new cell phone and while we were at the store I asked if they had any cell phones they could give the boys, because they, like every other child I know, love our cell phones and always want to carry them around and push all the buttons. Anyway they did and gave each of the boys one. Around this same time, Mike had a stack of business cards sitting on his office desk and Caleb grabbed a bunch a carried it around. For a couple of weeks, he would go to bed each night with his cell phone and his business cards. It was so cute. Hopefully he was conducting some good business deals before he went to bed.
Caleb is such a sweet boy and has picked up sharing a lot better than Owen. The bad thing about it though is that I think Owen hasn't pick up on it. Anytime Caleb has a toy that Owen wants all Owen has to do is cry or throw a little fit and Caleb will give it to him. It really is so sweet and makes me glad to have such a nice boy in Caleb and it makes me want to paddle Owen for being such a baby and for pulling a fit to get want he wants. I'm trying to teach Owen to share better and will make sure to give him stuff to take to Caleb and share with him.
Caleb knows Owen's name really well. I will point to Owen and ask him, "who is that?" and he will say Owen and then I will point to him and ask, "who are you?" and he will say, not Owen. Poor kid, maybe we should have given him an easier name.
Mike has stayed busy with taxes and finished another class for his master's program.
We also went swimming as a family at the rec center a few Saturday's, after Mike finished working. The boys love being in the pool and they are both so brave. They love standing on the edge of the pool and counting 1-2-3 and then jumping into our arms. Owen is especially daring and will jump out to us if we move away from the edge or if we aren't even there. They also love sliding down the slides.
The big news for the month is the boys started pre-school. They have been in early intervention for their speech and had a six month 'test' in the middle of March. Their speech has improved a ton, but they were still behind in a few areas and our counselor thought it would be a good idea to put them in pre-school one day a week. They go on Monday's and they really seem to like it. Their teacher is Miss Sally and they have a good time playing and learning.
Some funny stories for this month: Every time I've opened the oven door I'd tell them it is hot and not to touch. Well now, they love to say everything is hot. Caleb loves to say "oh hot" and really drag out the hot part. He tells me stuff is hot, even when it isn't. He won't even touch his food if it's been in the microwave even if I tell him it isn't hot.
Another funny thing, I got a new cell phone and while we were at the store I asked if they had any cell phones they could give the boys, because they, like every other child I know, love our cell phones and always want to carry them around and push all the buttons. Anyway they did and gave each of the boys one. Around this same time, Mike had a stack of business cards sitting on his office desk and Caleb grabbed a bunch a carried it around. For a couple of weeks, he would go to bed each night with his cell phone and his business cards. It was so cute. Hopefully he was conducting some good business deals before he went to bed.
Caleb is such a sweet boy and has picked up sharing a lot better than Owen. The bad thing about it though is that I think Owen hasn't pick up on it. Anytime Caleb has a toy that Owen wants all Owen has to do is cry or throw a little fit and Caleb will give it to him. It really is so sweet and makes me glad to have such a nice boy in Caleb and it makes me want to paddle Owen for being such a baby and for pulling a fit to get want he wants. I'm trying to teach Owen to share better and will make sure to give him stuff to take to Caleb and share with him.
Caleb knows Owen's name really well. I will point to Owen and ask him, "who is that?" and he will say Owen and then I will point to him and ask, "who are you?" and he will say, not Owen. Poor kid, maybe we should have given him an easier name.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
February 2012
The big news in February is that we went to Disneyland. A few months ago Mike's brother, Brian, invited us to go with his family. Mike said he couldn't go because of tax season, but since the boy were free at the parks, I decided, what the hey, how hard can it be to go on vacation with 2 two year olds? The answer is, kind of hard. Ha. But seriously I didn't' have anything else going on and Brian and Pam said their kids could help, so I decided to go. Since we were staying in the timeshare Mike's parents own, we decided to invite them too. :-) I know nice of us huh!?! The trip was a lot of fun, a little stressful, but fun. Brian and Pam's family along with Jim and Karin, were super helpful with the boys and besides some missed naps, which made them ornery, they did quite well. Mike was able to talk to his boss, who said as long as he put in his 60 hours before he left, he could go, so we booked him a ticket to fly to California for Thursday night. I drove with the boys, which was the one part of the trip I'm not sure I would do again. We drove to St. George Saturday night and then the rest of the way on Sunday to break it up a little bit, but I was still bored, tired of driving and asking "are we there yet?" the last bit of the trip. (Quick Story: We stayed at the condo in St. George. While I was unloading the car the boys kept running out in the road, so I put them inside the house. I was out there a while organizing and getting everything we would need for the night. When I went to take all the stuff in the house, guess who had locked me out. That's right Owen an Caleb. And guess where my keys were, inside on the table. I had them come over to the door and tried to get them to unlock it, but to no avail. I finally broke down and called a lock smith. $60 later and just in time, because when I was able to go in, the boys had climbed onto the counter and were playing with the knives. Can you say trouble!)
We spent three days in Disneyland, one day at Seaworld and then the other two days we just took it easy. We stayed at the Newport Coast Villas. It seemed like the boys had a good time. They seemed to enjoy most of the rides and as long as the lines weren't too long and we had some snacks, they were ok there too. Our first day we spent most of our time at California Adventure. Some of the rides the boys liked were the Carousel and Toy Story Mania. I think one of their favorite things was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Stage Show, the loved watching all the characters. (Probably because it is just like TV and they are little TV addicts. Side Note: Whenever Caleb wakes up in the morning or from a nap, usually the first thing is says is "Elmo", in that he wants to watch Elmo. Not "Hi" or "Let's play", no it is "Elmo". I probably need to cut back on their TV time.) Anyway, I was brave and went on the roller coaster, Screamin Over California. It made me a little nauseas the rest of the day but I did it. :-) I think the boys favorite part about the parks were exploring, touching and climbing on everything they could. They loved Toontown and climbing on the cars and sticking their hands in the fountains. Our Second day was spent in Disneyland, we rode on the train and went on Small World. We came home a little early this day, because the boys were starting to break down around 3:00. They wouldn't nap in their stroller, which made it hard, but they took a power nap in the car on the way home, so when we reached the hotel, they were good to go. We spent the afternoon exploring the grounds of the Villas. We played in a little park they had and went to see the fishes and played in the kids area where they had legos and trains and cars.
We spent part of one of our 'free' days at the beach. The boys had a good time running around and getting all sandy. Owen almost got attacked by the seagulls when he was eating his bag of chips.
Thursday night arrived and Mike is going to be here soon. But no, he calls me at 9:45, when he should be on the plane and tells me he missed his flight. After a small breakdown by me and trying to talk to Delta, which by the way they were absolutely NO help at all, he was on a flight for the morning. He arrived around 10am at the LA airport, so we picked him up and then drove to his first day at Disneyland. He loved it. He wished he could have stayed another day. We had park hopper tickets, but he only wanted to go to Disneyland. We went on all the old favorites: Pirates, Haunted Mansion (which was his favorite), Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and a few others the boys liked, like Autopia and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. I was sooo happy to have him there and the boys were too. It was fun to be able to hang out in Disneyland together as a family.
Our finally day was spent at Seaworld. We thought the boys were going to like it a lot, because of all the animals, but they didn't seem as excited as I thought they would.. However, Mike and I had been to Seaworld about 7 years earlier and we loved it, and this time was no exception, it was great. They do such a great job with the shows. It was cool to see Shamu, the dolphins and all the sea animals.
My good friend Katie J, lives 5 minutes away from San Diego, so afterwards we stopped by her house and went to dinner. We met at Dixie and have been friends ever since. She always visits me when she is in UT and I'm glad we could return the favor. It was fun seeing her and catching up a little bit and she was even good to put up with Owen crying in the car the whole time from her house to the restaurant. :-)
Sunday we drove home. It was long and boring. (Hopefully not at all like this post.) :-)
A few tips on Disneyland. February is a great time to go. Most of the lines were 10 minutes or less. If you want to spend lots of time at the beach it was a little cold for that, but the weather at the parks was great. During the days the temperature was in the low 70's so you didn't get too hot.
Hopefully the boys will remember some of this trip, if not, I'm sure we will return again soon.
The rest of February was spent going to Young Women's activities and Young Women's meetings. I was called at 2nd counselor. And for Mike it was spent working.
We spent three days in Disneyland, one day at Seaworld and then the other two days we just took it easy. We stayed at the Newport Coast Villas. It seemed like the boys had a good time. They seemed to enjoy most of the rides and as long as the lines weren't too long and we had some snacks, they were ok there too. Our first day we spent most of our time at California Adventure. Some of the rides the boys liked were the Carousel and Toy Story Mania. I think one of their favorite things was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Stage Show, the loved watching all the characters. (Probably because it is just like TV and they are little TV addicts. Side Note: Whenever Caleb wakes up in the morning or from a nap, usually the first thing is says is "Elmo", in that he wants to watch Elmo. Not "Hi" or "Let's play", no it is "Elmo". I probably need to cut back on their TV time.) Anyway, I was brave and went on the roller coaster, Screamin Over California. It made me a little nauseas the rest of the day but I did it. :-) I think the boys favorite part about the parks were exploring, touching and climbing on everything they could. They loved Toontown and climbing on the cars and sticking their hands in the fountains. Our Second day was spent in Disneyland, we rode on the train and went on Small World. We came home a little early this day, because the boys were starting to break down around 3:00. They wouldn't nap in their stroller, which made it hard, but they took a power nap in the car on the way home, so when we reached the hotel, they were good to go. We spent the afternoon exploring the grounds of the Villas. We played in a little park they had and went to see the fishes and played in the kids area where they had legos and trains and cars.
We spent part of one of our 'free' days at the beach. The boys had a good time running around and getting all sandy. Owen almost got attacked by the seagulls when he was eating his bag of chips.
Thursday night arrived and Mike is going to be here soon. But no, he calls me at 9:45, when he should be on the plane and tells me he missed his flight. After a small breakdown by me and trying to talk to Delta, which by the way they were absolutely NO help at all, he was on a flight for the morning. He arrived around 10am at the LA airport, so we picked him up and then drove to his first day at Disneyland. He loved it. He wished he could have stayed another day. We had park hopper tickets, but he only wanted to go to Disneyland. We went on all the old favorites: Pirates, Haunted Mansion (which was his favorite), Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and a few others the boys liked, like Autopia and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. I was sooo happy to have him there and the boys were too. It was fun to be able to hang out in Disneyland together as a family.
Our finally day was spent at Seaworld. We thought the boys were going to like it a lot, because of all the animals, but they didn't seem as excited as I thought they would.. However, Mike and I had been to Seaworld about 7 years earlier and we loved it, and this time was no exception, it was great. They do such a great job with the shows. It was cool to see Shamu, the dolphins and all the sea animals.
My good friend Katie J, lives 5 minutes away from San Diego, so afterwards we stopped by her house and went to dinner. We met at Dixie and have been friends ever since. She always visits me when she is in UT and I'm glad we could return the favor. It was fun seeing her and catching up a little bit and she was even good to put up with Owen crying in the car the whole time from her house to the restaurant. :-)
Sunday we drove home. It was long and boring. (Hopefully not at all like this post.) :-)
A few tips on Disneyland. February is a great time to go. Most of the lines were 10 minutes or less. If you want to spend lots of time at the beach it was a little cold for that, but the weather at the parks was great. During the days the temperature was in the low 70's so you didn't get too hot.
Hopefully the boys will remember some of this trip, if not, I'm sure we will return again soon.
The rest of February was spent going to Young Women's activities and Young Women's meetings. I was called at 2nd counselor. And for Mike it was spent working.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
January 2012
We are going to try this a little different. Back in the day we used to have a family newsletter that we wrote in once a month. I'm going to see if I can keep up with that a little better.
Slade's Fun in the Sun, January 2012
Most of January was spent getting settled into our new house. We love it so far. I'm trying to decorate a little differently than our old house. I want to be brave and do modern/hip things, but I find myself being drawn back to what I know and what is safe. So far we had only purchased the big ticket items like the couch and dining room table (which were safe choices), so hopefully I can be more brave with the art work and accessory items. We went the first couple of weeks without any window coverings, but the beginning of the month we got shutters and they look great. We have really only had one issue so far with the house. The heater sometimes will blow cold air, which isn't ideal in the winter time, but we have been working with the builder and contractor, so hopefully we can get it fixed soon.
We celebrated my Dad and Kim's birthday with a dinner over at Mariah's house. For a gift all the kids are pitching in and we gave them a gift certificate to get a family picture taken. The last one the Bill Beesley familhy had, was taken six years ago, so we figured it was about time for another one.
Our ward split three weeks after we moved in and I got called to be the second counselor in YW. I had just gotten out of my calling as Laurel advisor and was looking forward to RS, but it looks like I need to improve my "game" in YW, so I'm back in. I'm trying to have a better attitude and put my best foot forward in this calling and so far that seems to be working. Plus now I'm dealing with the Beehives, which are always a fun and loud group. For some reason I just didn't feel like I connected well with the Laurels in our last ward. Being a counselor is a lot busier than being an advisor. We have church and Wednesday activities and meetings and are often exchanging texts and emails through out the week, but again it is all about the attitude. And I'm trying to have a good one. :-)
I attended a girls luncheon that my Aunt Linda put together with all the girl cousins. It is always fun to get together and see everyone and get caught up.
The boys, to be perfectly honest with you, have been driving me a little crazy lately. :-) Some days of the week I find it necessary to put them in "structured playing time" which is playing upstairs in one of their bedrooms for an hour or sitting them in their booster seat and letting them watch "Elmo", Seasame Street while I get some stuff done around the house. The funny thing is Owen or Caleb alone is manageable. And they don't get into near as much mischief as the two of them together.
We have wood or tile floors on 90% of the main floor and so we bought a rumba, which is a robot vacuum. It is saving my life, I didn't know how I was going to keep the floors clean, but I just turn it on and away it cleans. The boys are OBSESSED with it and that is putting it lightly. Whenever they are awake, they want me to turn on the "on on" as they like to call it. I will be sitting at the counter or getting ready in my room and they will come and grab my hand drag me over to the base and wait for me to press the on button. I usually turn it on in the morning and let it clean my floor, but there have been times that the vacuum will be in the kitchen and the boys will be playing in the entry and so I'll turn it off cause I think no one is paying attention. A few seconds later they will both come running around the corner saying "on on" with a look on their face like, "why did you turn that off we were still paying attention to it." They will follow it around the house for about 5 minutes, but then just ignore it, but if I try to turn it off, I don't hear the end of it. There are some days I have to hide it because they want me to turn it on so much. They will roam around the house looking for it, asking "where is it?"
Their speech continues to improve. They are getting really good at repeating words, so if I'll say a word like cupboard, strawberry, etc... they will try to repeat it. They are also getting a lot better at identify objects they already know the word for. They still grunt and point a lot, but the therapist we work with says that is normal, and to just keep giving them choice when they can't come up with the word for what they want on their own.
Mike has been working and is already gearing up for tax season. He usually doesn't get home until 6:30/7:00 and the other night he didn't get home until 9:30. Mike also got a calling. He is the CTR 5 teacher.
I've been going back to the gym. My sisters and I signed up for the Little Red Century bike ride which is in June, so we figure we need to start training and get "into shape". We have also been doing some craft projects. We made a cute Christmas wreath that Mariah found on pinterest and I painted and decorated the letters, L-O-V-E with scrapbook paper and embellishments for a Valentines decoration. I love having them live so close. It is fun to be able to get together for these types of things and not have to drive far to do them.
We had a follow up eye appointment for Caleb and the Dr. said it looked good and is healing how it is supposed to. We have another appointment in six months to just check and make sure it looks good and that he can see correctly out of that eye, but we are glad that this seems to have taken care of the problems of his "wandering eye".
So there you have it. Until next month (hopefully).
Slade's Fun in the Sun, January 2012
Most of January was spent getting settled into our new house. We love it so far. I'm trying to decorate a little differently than our old house. I want to be brave and do modern/hip things, but I find myself being drawn back to what I know and what is safe. So far we had only purchased the big ticket items like the couch and dining room table (which were safe choices), so hopefully I can be more brave with the art work and accessory items. We went the first couple of weeks without any window coverings, but the beginning of the month we got shutters and they look great. We have really only had one issue so far with the house. The heater sometimes will blow cold air, which isn't ideal in the winter time, but we have been working with the builder and contractor, so hopefully we can get it fixed soon.
We celebrated my Dad and Kim's birthday with a dinner over at Mariah's house. For a gift all the kids are pitching in and we gave them a gift certificate to get a family picture taken. The last one the Bill Beesley familhy had, was taken six years ago, so we figured it was about time for another one.
Our ward split three weeks after we moved in and I got called to be the second counselor in YW. I had just gotten out of my calling as Laurel advisor and was looking forward to RS, but it looks like I need to improve my "game" in YW, so I'm back in. I'm trying to have a better attitude and put my best foot forward in this calling and so far that seems to be working. Plus now I'm dealing with the Beehives, which are always a fun and loud group. For some reason I just didn't feel like I connected well with the Laurels in our last ward. Being a counselor is a lot busier than being an advisor. We have church and Wednesday activities and meetings and are often exchanging texts and emails through out the week, but again it is all about the attitude. And I'm trying to have a good one. :-)
I attended a girls luncheon that my Aunt Linda put together with all the girl cousins. It is always fun to get together and see everyone and get caught up.
The boys, to be perfectly honest with you, have been driving me a little crazy lately. :-) Some days of the week I find it necessary to put them in "structured playing time" which is playing upstairs in one of their bedrooms for an hour or sitting them in their booster seat and letting them watch "Elmo", Seasame Street while I get some stuff done around the house. The funny thing is Owen or Caleb alone is manageable. And they don't get into near as much mischief as the two of them together.
We have wood or tile floors on 90% of the main floor and so we bought a rumba, which is a robot vacuum. It is saving my life, I didn't know how I was going to keep the floors clean, but I just turn it on and away it cleans. The boys are OBSESSED with it and that is putting it lightly. Whenever they are awake, they want me to turn on the "on on" as they like to call it. I will be sitting at the counter or getting ready in my room and they will come and grab my hand drag me over to the base and wait for me to press the on button. I usually turn it on in the morning and let it clean my floor, but there have been times that the vacuum will be in the kitchen and the boys will be playing in the entry and so I'll turn it off cause I think no one is paying attention. A few seconds later they will both come running around the corner saying "on on" with a look on their face like, "why did you turn that off we were still paying attention to it." They will follow it around the house for about 5 minutes, but then just ignore it, but if I try to turn it off, I don't hear the end of it. There are some days I have to hide it because they want me to turn it on so much. They will roam around the house looking for it, asking "where is it?"
Their speech continues to improve. They are getting really good at repeating words, so if I'll say a word like cupboard, strawberry, etc... they will try to repeat it. They are also getting a lot better at identify objects they already know the word for. They still grunt and point a lot, but the therapist we work with says that is normal, and to just keep giving them choice when they can't come up with the word for what they want on their own.
Mike has been working and is already gearing up for tax season. He usually doesn't get home until 6:30/7:00 and the other night he didn't get home until 9:30. Mike also got a calling. He is the CTR 5 teacher.
I've been going back to the gym. My sisters and I signed up for the Little Red Century bike ride which is in June, so we figure we need to start training and get "into shape". We have also been doing some craft projects. We made a cute Christmas wreath that Mariah found on pinterest and I painted and decorated the letters, L-O-V-E with scrapbook paper and embellishments for a Valentines decoration. I love having them live so close. It is fun to be able to get together for these types of things and not have to drive far to do them.
We had a follow up eye appointment for Caleb and the Dr. said it looked good and is healing how it is supposed to. We have another appointment in six months to just check and make sure it looks good and that he can see correctly out of that eye, but we are glad that this seems to have taken care of the problems of his "wandering eye".
So there you have it. Until next month (hopefully).
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Boys Birthday
The boy turned 2 on the 21st of Oct. We had a birthday party for them. We had a yummy dinner, ate cupcakes and ice cream, opened gifts and played a little game. I wrote up this quiz about the boys and whoever got the most right won a prize. If you read the blog, you will probably get most of them right, since I took most of the questions from here.
1. We like to destroy lots of thing, but recently what appliance did we break?
a. Television
b. Oven
c. Refrigerator
d. None, we never break things.
2. True or False: Caleb had to wear an eye patch.
3. What month did the boys move out of their cribs and into beds?
a. Last October
b. August
c. September
d. This October
4. True or False: Only Caleb got tubes in his ears
5. True or False: The boys weigh the same?
Bonus: How much do they weigh?
6. According to their last Doctors visit, in September, Owen was ___ inches tall and
Caleb was ___ inches tall.
7. We aren’t afraid of very many things, but we get scared and cry every time ____________ gets turned on.
8. True or False: We are really good eaters.
9. Our favortie show to watch is:
10. True or False: We share a room.
Answers: 1.A , 2.True, 3.C, 4. False, 5. False, Bonus: Owen 33lbs Caleb 31lbs, 6. A, 7. Roomba Vacuum, 8. True, 9. B. 10. False
 |
| All the party guests |
 |
| Caleb & Owen blowing out their cupcakes. |
Owen & Caleb’s 2nd Birthday
1. We like to destroy lots of thing, but recently what appliance did we break?
a. Television
b. Oven
c. Refrigerator
d. None, we never break things.
2. True or False: Caleb had to wear an eye patch.
3. What month did the boys move out of their cribs and into beds?
a. Last October
b. August
c. September
d. This October
4. True or False: Only Caleb got tubes in his ears
5. True or False: The boys weigh the same?
Bonus: How much do they weigh?
6. According to their last Doctors visit, in September, Owen was ___ inches tall and
Caleb was ___ inches tall.
a. both the same
b. 35 and 33
c. 33 and 35
7. We aren’t afraid of very many things, but we get scared and cry every time ____________ gets turned on.
8. True or False: We are really good eaters.
9. Our favortie show to watch is:
a. Survivor
b. Seasame Street
c. Martha Speaks
d. Wild Krats
10. True or False: We share a room.
Answers: 1.A , 2.True, 3.C, 4. False, 5. False, Bonus: Owen 33lbs Caleb 31lbs, 6. A, 7. Roomba Vacuum, 8. True, 9. B. 10. False
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