Time Away

My mom and dad took my kids for the last couple days.  Am I a bad mother if I say it's been quite wonderful.  It sort of makes me look forward to some of those days in the near future, when the kids are in school and Cardon is down for a long nap (like he's been doing lately), and I have time to actually do things. 

While the kids have been gone:

I have gone through and completely organized Prentice's clothes from newborn to size 12.  Thanks to some great sales, she is almost set for next summer. 

I have started to organize all the boy clothes in the same fashion and will hopefully finish when I 'm done blogging.

Gone to Costco not once but twice and actually had enough time to think and ended up buying new sheets for us and a comforter for Truman. 

Played with Cardon like I used to play with Truman when he was the only one.  Poor third child.  I've definitely taught him to be more independent.

Washed and made all the bedding and towels and even washed some of the pillows.

Made 10 loaves of zucchini bread.  Still have way to much zucchini left though.

Emptied the dishwasher.  I always have the kids do that now and it's been a while.

Got completely ready two days in a row.  Sometimes by the time I get home from the gym, I really just wonder if it's worth it.  It has made me really like my new short hair finally and have come to the conclusion that I can actually do it and might actually keep it this length (or maybe shorter)!

Had great workouts at the gym.

Invited my husband to go to lunch.  He picked Olive Garden (a real splurge for us).  Not really because we used a gift card from my sister Danielle.  It felt a little high end though.  I dressed up, he wore his dirty work shoes so everyone knows what a great worker and provider he is.  And by dressed up I mean I wore my new $12 shirt from Costco.  Cardon was perfect.

Went shopping.  Couldn't find anything for me but got some cute stuff for the kids.  As seems to always be the case.

Spent some time continuing to plan and work out the kinks for our upcoming Ballam family trip.

Truman called to say he'd lost a tooth while he was away and Prentice called to tattle on Truman and tell me she's homesick.  As nice as it is for all of us to have a little break sometimes, I sure do miss them no matter what.

I can't thank my wonderful parents for taking the kids and spoiling them like grandparents should.  You're the best!  Really.

Lagoon, Cabin, and Family

My mom, sister Monique and I decided to take a trip up north. We got passes to Lagoon and spent 5 busy days playing there. It is so fun for the kids to be able to go with their cousins now. They hung out with Lilly, Dorian, and Aiden. I took a few pictures but most of them just didn't turn out. Darn rides just won't hold still. It's fun to watch all their little personalities change as they grown up.  I'm excited for them to continue to spend time together and get to know each other.  It is trips like these that it makes me sad my kids don't know my sister's kids hardly at all. 

This picture is only a glimpse into the craziness, fun, and sometimes chaos that happened with these three! 

Getting enough sleep is always an issue when you're having too much fun right?  No matter how many pillows you bring and how comfortable you try to make sure your kids are they always look so uncomfortable when they fall asleep in the car.  Truman is perfect on road trips because we let him play with the Game Boy and various other electronic devices.

We made it to Bear Lake and had a raspberry shake of course.  Which honestly wasn't as good as I remember.  Oh well, it's part of the tradition.  Truman and I always share a raspberry and Jer and Prentice always share something with chocolate and cookies.  It works out perfect because Cardon just whines for everything and nothing all at the same time.

Jer spent a good part of the trying to train Ann not to bark at the dogs next to us.  I guess she's pretty protective of us.  And yes I am definitely warming up to her and actually can say I really like her.  I guess that means we're keeping the dog.  Having a dog is so much work and I don't know how people do it without an amazing and wonderful trainer of a husband.  She was a great dog to begin with and as much as the whole dog thing wasn't in my plan, he has made her even better.

We spent a couple days at Jeremy's family cabin with some of his family.  Either the cabin is getting smaller, our family is getting bigger, or I am just getting older because each year seems more crowded than the last.  As is tradition up there we always catch a few mice in the cabin (one was actually sitting under the covers when we pulled down the sheets to get into bed the first night).  The places we go and the things we do for kids...right?  Jer and I opted to sleep on the pull out couch that night.  We always see tons of bugs and usually we see a few snakes (the kids were sad not to see any this year).

This was Cardon's first trip to the cabin and he liked every minute of playing, getting dirty, and playing in the stream.

Jer takes a break from dog training and bug hunting to relax in Grandma's chair.

Why do kids always fall asleep 2 minutes before you get somewhere?  We had to take Cardon out carseat and all because we were going to trade into Jeremy's truck when he got there.

This day we didn't last very long at Lagoon because we were wimps (even the kids were) and couldn't stand all the rain. We went home and took naps and  came back when the rain had cleared up.

These pictures are completely out of order but the first morning we pulled out of my grandparents driveway to head to Lagoon we found out we were completely stuck from going anywhere because of the Kaysville parade.  I know it's a great tradition, and the kids actually had quite a bit of fun watching and getting candy once we found out we weren't going anywhere, but can I tell you we were stuck for 4 hours.  And even then the not so polite police officer told us we still weren't supposed to be on the road, but at that point we had made it to the other side of the road and could get out!

We had a lot of fun on our summer trip to Lagoon and made lots of memories, but we sure were TIRED.  They aren't joking when they say a vacation with kids isn't a vacation for adults at all.  By the end (when we didn't have Monique's help) my mom and I told the kids they could go on any ride as long as we didn't have to go with them.  They weren't tired at all, but we sure were.  Glad to be home and planning and gearing up for our Ballam family trip to Yellowstone!

Hot Hike

We decided to go for a hike one Saturday on the preserve behind our house. It was up over 100 degrees and even Ann got to the point where she would stop and lay down every time she round a shady spot. We didn't last too long, but was still worth it. When we got home we turned on the water for a little and cooled down.

There used to be a swing at this spot, but when we got there it had been taken down.

Ann even figured out how to drink from the Camelbak.

Whenever Truman sees a try he has to climb it, and then he has to have me take his picture. 

Finally heading home.  I think Truman was sulking for some reason at this point so he was behind us.

Jer kept saying he didn't think it was that hot.  I had to remind him that if he were a child he would probably think otherwise.  I do like how we try not to let the weather slow us down and Jer still makes an effort to get out do things.  I guess we are getting used to all this heat!  I think for the kids and dog's sake we better try to do a hike with some more water next time.

Cardon 16 months

Judging by the pictures this month...Cardon is either making a mess or running around naked (probably because I had to take all his clothes off from a mess)!

Jer and I don't know where our little sweet baby went.  He has turned into an out of control boy!  He sure seems to have an opinion now, but still can't always let us know what that is unless it involves a scream or whine.

At 16 months you:
are hard to keep in one spot
won't hold still to get your clothes on or diaper changed
like to maul and bother Ann
turning more into a mama's boy
push us away from what we are doing when you want to be held
get the Cheerios from the pantry to tell us you are hungry
starting to feed yourself (very messy)
have a high pitched scream
have lots more teeth
like to do things on your terms
like hide and seek
your can climb up on tables and chairs now
understand a lot
when we try to get you to say something, you just sign it
aren't very verbal
can throw balls
give high fives and knuckles (even during sacrament to the row behind us)
have your pacifier mostly when you go to sleep
get in the car and go right to the back and sit down by Truman
will read some books with us now
like animals
went to Lagoon for the first time
run around the halls during church
say mama A LOT
have almost white blonde hair (it's still a little curly)

Love you messy, crazy boy. 

Summer Cut

Every so often I get sick enough of my hair that I just have to cut it. I had been thinking about it for a while but didn't know who to go to and am just too indecisive. The funny thing is Jer actually saw someone at Maverick while he was filling up his soda that had a cut that he thought I would like. I laugh because she probably thought he was hitting on her when he asked her where she got her hair cut. Long story short, I trusted his opinion even though I hadn't even seen what he liked but I went into the salon blind and had about 10 inches cut off. I would say I'm still adjusting a little to the cut and most importantly still trying to get it to look exactly like it did when we left the salon. It is nice not to have hair on my neck in this hot weather and it seems as though when it was long I just pulled it back in a ponytail even day anyway. I'll probably cut it again in about 5 years as usual.