Survivor Man 2007

Preston went on the "Survivor Man" camp out this last weekend. They left on Thursday and returned Saturday and I think the name of the camp out fits it perfectly. Actually a more fitting name might be crazy man or stinky man(because let me tell you they did stink upon returning.) They went out in the wilderness for three days two nights equipped with nothing but the clothes on their backs, water purification tablets, flint and steel, and 1 snickers bar. They had to survive eating plants and whatever they could catch(there were no fish so they had to eat things like crawdads...sick!)
To me the whole point of camping is smore's, roasting hot dogs on a stick, waking up cozy in your sleeping bag and the sunshine pouring through the windows of your tent. Maybe I am a girl but fighting over which rock you are going to lay your head on(they actually had a fight over who called which rock first), eating grass and weird dirty crayfish. Well I guess they learned some great survival skills.... if times ever get tough we know that
Preston can catch us a crawfish! Whew, what a relief that brings!

The Perfect Blue...part 2

So some of you may remember my entry a few weeks ago about the perfect blue crayon.
Well, it was a sad day here for Ethan because he had to come to grips with the fact that Perfect Blue is almost gone. The conversation went something like this:

Ethan: Mommy, why does my Perfect Blue get smaller every time I use it?
Me: Oh, well, didn't you know that when you use a crayon it gets smaller. Every time you color a picture part of your crayon goes on the paper.
Ethan: Is this some kind of joke?
Me: (Laughing) No I am not joking. Perfect Blue will be gone probably after one more picture.
Ethan: (Voice quite and high pitch) I don't believe you. Perfect Blue will be with me forever. I NEED HIM!!!

Ethan then proceeded to cry and scream that he couldn't live without Perfect Blue, that no new crayon would ever make the right blue color and that if Perfect Blue disappeared he would never, ever, ever be able to make pretty pictures again. Not sure what to do. Maybe we should have a funeral. Give him an opportunity to make his peace and say goodbye!

So as you can see we carved our pumpkin last night. This is actually the first year since we've been married that we have carved a pumpkin. All years prior to this we've been too lazy. The boys loved it...but they wouldn't put their hands inside to scrape out the seeds-they said it was scary in there! I think it's pretty funny that they will eat trash off the ground at the fair, get into the trash bags that have been sitting in the hot trashcan for four days, and stick their fingers in their noses at least once a day but sticking their hands inside a pumpkin....now that's scary!

Feeding the Ducks

Fall is here! The weather is soooo BEAUTIFUL and we are having a great time outdoors.

Ethan and Hayley

Exciting Sunday!

So this may not be too exciting to any of you. I will tell you what it's about, so if you aren't interested you can skip ahead to my next post...A High Speed Car Chase!
OK... you are still reading so it must be interesting to you...it was to us. We were leaving church today, satisfied with the great truths we were just taught, classical music softly playing in the van, and peace filled the air( OK well I like to imagine that's the way it was). So we were driving home coming to an intersection with a green light and right as we were about to turn into the intersection a old green car ran it's red light and came charging through the intersection. 1.2 seconds later two police cars traveling just as fast came racing behind this car. I began screaming for Preston to follow, this is BIG stuff for our little town of Casa Grande and I NEEDED to see this. So we followed behind(45 mph slower) and few minutes later we caught up with the criminal. He had crashed into a HUGE tree and his car was a mess. When we arrived he was on the ground in his dirty white tank top, while the police cuffed him. We sat and watched as the police yelled at him a pushed him into the back of their car. It was a Big event. Then Preston began lecturing me and the two toddlers in the back seat how it is so dumb to try to out run the police in your car( does he think I am going to try that?) "Trying to lose the police in a car is stupid...I mean, where do you think you're going? If you're on foot that's one thing, you have a pretty good chance, but in a car...come on man you're not going anywhere." I appreciate that Preston is always looking for opportunities to teach his family!

My Sweet Sister

My sister is a great aunt to my two little boys. She spoils them rotten! Every time she comes to my house she brings ice cream, new coloring books, cookies and toys. Yesterday she topped herself, she picked them up took them to the movies(something they get to do about once a year), took them to In-N-Out, let them pick out a new toy at the toy store(something I have never let them do), and took them out to ice cream. What lucky boys!! I am so lucky too. It was so nice to have a whole day to myself. Thanks Lindsey, we love you!!

My Children the Photographers

So today I turn on my camera and find that I have 231 pictures. I have NEVER had that many pictures on my camera at any one time. I couldn't figure out how they got there. I reviewed my pictures and found that my two little boys had taken over 100 pictures. It was so hilarious to see their point of view. I thought you might like to see a few of their shots!

Here is a picture Ethan took of Tyler... funny to see how pictures look from his height

Here is one of Ethan and Tyler's favorite shows. There were about 50 of shots of this!

Ethan's rainbow poster...there were 30 pictures of this!

Tyler's Big Head

When Tyler was about two weeks old I took him in for his well baby visit. They did the usual checkup:he was weighed, they measured his height, and his head circumference. He was a big kid and so I wasn't too surprised when they said he was in the 110% for his height and 95% for his weight. But then the nurse said, "Oh, his head is in the 15%...he has a cute little punkin head." I was disturbed. First because I didn't like that she said my baby had a head like a PUMPKIN. Second, because I was sure that pumpkins are big, not small, and couldn't understand why she would say that his tiny head was like a pumpkin...shouldn't she say an apple or green pepper or something? But mostly because I didn't like that his head wasn't proportionate to his body.
Since then I have stopped worrying. I think he looks normal even though to this day his head measures in the 20%. Preston has a small head and he turned out fine, right? (WELL....HaHa Preston just kidding!)
Today at the GAP something changed my opinion of his head being too small. Preston was home a bit early and we took a trip to the GAP. We were in the back of the store admiring the huge wall of jeans when I hear Tyler scream. I look down to see my little two year old laying tummy side down on the ground his head stuck under the lowest shelf of jeans. He had wedged his head under the shelf and now couldn't get it out. It was sad and funny all at the same time. Am I a terrible mom that I had to hold back the laughter? Sliding his arms against the ground, the poor little guy, was using all his arm strength to try and pull himself out. But each time his,"little punkin head" just banged harder against the shelf. After his head was safely released and we were out of the store Preston and I died laughing. This is typical Tyler. I don't know what it is about this kid but he is always getting himself into these hilarious situations.
But I think I saw a gleam in his eye when it was all over. I think he was proud that today, even though it may be the only day, he didn't have a ,"little punkin head."

What A Weekend!

This was a wild weekend! We started the weekend off with a trip to the Arizona State Fair with our friends the Orton's. We had such a great time. There really wasn't anything too special about the state fair that warranted this great time but I think it was the combination of tasty fair food(even as overpriced as it was), A VERY WEIRD SIDE SHOW, and of course the company. We always have fun with the Orton's.
I have to tell you about the side show. It was supposed to be a magic show I think but it actually ended up being just a show of weird and gross human tricks. I watched, against my better judgement, but Kelly couldn't even look at the stage...it was that sick! The best part is when Tyler Fire(that's the kooks name) put his sidekick, Thrill Kill Jill( even better name) in a box and stuck big blades in. He then tells the audience to come up and look in the box at her and see how she is contorted. I'm thinking, "Wow I've never seen that during a show before...he's actually going to let us look," so a huge line forms and then he says that everyone needs to make a donation in the bucket in order to see her in the box. "Please give a least a dollar so Jill can have a nice Christmas." The craziest part is that most of the people actually put money in that dumb bucket. Kelly and I couldn't take the suspense so we took a look( WE DID NOT PAY!!!) and she was just laying there on her side...completely comfortable. It was a lame show but...we got a lot of laughs out of it!

Then on Saturday we headed out to Maricopa. The Orton's invited us to the Founder's Day celebration in Maricopa. It was great. We packed a picnic, got lots of free stuff(including a pumpkin!), listened to the free concert by the Gin Blossoms and watched the fireworks show after!
Tasty food, awesome weather, hilarious friends,and great entertainment(well..maybe not great but free!) are all the ingredients needed for a enjoyable weekend! The best part is that it totally wore the kids out. Ethan and Tyler actually slept in till 12:00 NOON on Saturday. Can you believe that? It was so great. We are going to have to do this every weekend.

when i grow up i want to be a ....

So my son, Ethan, has an addiction to TV/Movies. I have been trying to crack down on this addiction the past few days, severely limiting the TV time. Well today my patience ran out. I threatened that if he didn't stop pestering me for a "SHOW" every 5min that I would get rid of the TV so he would have to learn to entertain himself in other ways. He started crying and freaking out...probably the way a drug addict does when he's sent to rehab! He looked at me and said, "I wish that I were a flower. Then I wouldn't have to see you anymore."
What?????? I didn't even know how to respond to the fact that my four year old just wished to be a FLOWER. Let alone that he didn't want to see me anymore. It took all I had not to burst into laughter. What a funny kid!

Potty Training Help!

Does anyone have any good potty training tips? This is one area of parenting that I don't feel very competent. I would love any Little Boy Potty training Advice!

Singing in the Rain...

So this morning I sent the boys out to play. I saw that our neighbor's little boy Hudson was outside and I knew they would love to play with him. I sent them out to play and I ran upstairs to grab a book to read while they rode bikes. When I arrived outside they were having a blast in the sprinklers.

Glamorous

Me, Katie and Camry

Getting positioned for the shot!

Here are some cute pictures of the Young Women last night. We were taking their pictures in formals for Evening in Excellence. So cute!!!!

THE PERFECT DAY

What a great day! This has been the best day.
We started off the day with our tradition of Big Breakfast on conference Sunday. It was delicious. Preston made hash browns and bacon and I made pancakes and eggs!

Then we watched our second day of conference. I just want to say I LOVE conference. These last two days have been wonderful. How blessed I am to be able to hear actual living Prophets teach me the truth. I felt so much gratitude today for this gospel and for those Holy men. When the last session came on today Tyler actually got his pillow and blanket and laid down right in front of the TV to watch "confince." My testimony is strengthened and I feel inspired.

Still full from our feast for breakfast the little boys and I enjoyed Berry Smoothies. Preston won't eat anything with a vitamin or mineral in it so he opted out of the Berry Smoothies and had Ramen Noodles.

Another reason this was THE PERFECT DAY is the weather. For someone who has never lived in the desert it may be hard for you to understand this but after 4 1/2 months of 100+ temperatures this weather is PARADISE!! Last night we opened the windows and turned the air conditioner off for the first time since we moved into this house in April. It has been beautiful, sunny and in the 70's all day. We went on a walk/bike ride between sessions. This isn't something we've really been able to do midday since moving here so maybe you can understand why this is such a big deal to us!
It reminds me of the talk in conference when he said that a family took vacations all over the country and the son said that his favorite part of the summer was laying on the grass with his dad and looking at the stars. This day has been perfect because I was able to enjoy the blessings the Lord has given us with the people I love most. I wouldn't have been anywhere else!

Potty Training

Tyler is definitely ready to be potty trained. He has been asking about it for weeks. So... I decided this week we would start.
We went to the store and bought a potty chair( the one we used with Ethan fell out of the moving truck on our most recent move.) And he needed underwear. At first, I was going to buy Ethan new underwear and pass his slightly too small underwear on to Tyler. Almost everything Tyler owns was once Ethan's. I would say that 99 % of all his clothes, blankets, and toys were Ethan's at one time. The more I thought about this..the more I knew that there are some things that you just need your own of. Hand me down underwear is crossing LINES!
HE WAS SOOOO HAPPY!!! This is when I knew that he gets to many hand-me-downs. When we got home he said our Lunch prayer it went something like this
"tankful fow home...tankful fow potty seat...tankful fow underwear..tankful fow potty seat...tankful fow underwear..."
I'll let you know how it goes. My memories of potty training Ethan are that is was the most excruciating experience of parenting - but Tyler is a bit mellower than Ethan so hopefully it will go smoothly!

Hairstylist

So today while I was doing Ethan's hair, Tyler got into the gel and did his own hair. He was so proud of it I decided to let him wear it out! He thought it looked great.

Who Does Tyler Look Like

OK...Everyone always says that Tyler looks like Preston. But this highly scientific source says that's not so! Apparently he looks like me.

So I found this website and tried it out...it's supposed to show you what celebrity you look like. I don't know about this guy. He's a bit weird. Ethan got really scared when I showed him this!

I didn't post one of these for Tyler because in the 3 times I tried it - he turned into Fred Savage(Wonder Years), Little Bow Wow, and Michael Jackson. One day my son may look at this blog and I am afraid that those images would not be good for his self esteem!

So...like I said when I started this blog one of it's purposes was to help me to be better at keeping a journal. One of my biggest regrets is that I haven't been better at recording all the hilarious things my kids say and do. So in an effort to rectify this situation here is something cute Ethan said today.
We were reading scriptures before bed and the verse said that Lehi prayed with all his heart. So I asked the boys what they thought that meant. Preston, trying to explain to Ethan said, "Well, he prayed with everything he had." Ethan then said, " So.. did he pray with his feet too?"