More signs of summer...

Otter pops after dinner...

playing on the teeter-totter...

riding bikes...

 and Jake's summer buzz.

Before:

After:

Is this kid adorable or what?

Hello Summer...

You know how I know it is summer?  We went on our first family outdoor adventure of the season and I look like a lobster today.  The worst part is I bought the 50+ SPF sunscreen the night before, I just forgot to take it with.  Fortunately, Brian and the kids only got lightly toasted.

We drove up to Heber City yesterday to meet up with our friends and enjoy a picnic in the mountains.  They weren't quite ready for us so we spent a fun half-hour at the park first.

Lila is our swinging fool!

I think that Evie likes to swing too, because she doesn't stop asking to be pushed the entire time she is in one! (grrr....)

This is the tallest twirly slide I have ever seen!  The climb up made me a little nervous but the kids loved the view from the top, not to mention the ride down!

Cute kids in good moods.  A mom can't ask for more than that...

Hey Mom! Look at us! Mom! Look at us!!

Smile everybody!

Okay, now be goofy...

Evie got so excited every time she saw one of the carved bears, "Mom! I've seen that show before!"  It took me a few minutes to figure out that she was talking about Brother Bear.

A rare picture where all three are looking the same direction and smiling... sort of.

The girls.

We ate our lunch by Strawberry Reservoir and then we walked around the boardwalks by the Visitors Center.

Libby decided that she didn't want to wear her hat anymore, so she gave it to her dad.

The kids liked it when we got to cross a bridge.  Moving water is endlessly fascinating to them...

Evie and Libby holding hands.  

These two are such buddies! 

We had such a fun day hanging with Dinee and Tay and their cute girls.  We can't wait to have more summertime fun with them.  And I will remember to bring the sunscreen from here on out...

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Jake's birthday was last Thursday, but because of circumstances outside of my control (the camera card reader was missing...)  we were delayed in posting.  So sorry...

I have to admit that one of my favorite things during the school year is making the birthday poster.  What parent doesn't like an opportunity to brag on their kid and make them feel really special!

Jake had a great day, he got picked up after school by his Grandma T. and spent the afternoon with her (including a trip to the bookstore!).  Then we went out to dinner with Pa Dave and Aunt Caite.  Jake picked Chili's and everyone had a great meal!

After dinner we came back to do presents and have cake...

Jake loved reading all the great cards he got, but the hands down favorite had to be from Pa Dave because it plays the Chicken Polka when it is opened.  (It was Lila's favorite anyhow...)

  

Jake got books, clothes and a few fun toys...

 

He was most excited by a new game for the Wii and a charging stand for the Wii controllers!

Time for cake! Jake picked German Chocolate this year, I wasn't sure if he would really like it so we had cake and cupcakes, yellow with chocolate frosting.  It worked out well for his sisters, as they didn't really care for the coconut/pecan frosting of the German Chocolate.

Seven candles!  It just gets brighter every year...

A week or so before his birthday I was helping him bathe (because of the whole broken arm and cast thing) and as I was washing his feet I had a total shock!

His foot is now longer than my hand.  I don't know why that should surprise me, I mean the kid is almost as tall as my shoulder.  When he was born he was 1/3 of my height.  But for some reason seeing that long, bony foot bigger than my hand made me just a little sad.  Like when he lost his first tooth, watching the baby-ness fade away...

Jake- This is what I want to remember about when you were seven:

You drive me crazy because you can not hold still for more then 3 seconds at a time, you have a seriously goofy laugh that I hope is something you out grow, and you are fundamentally incapable of putting on a shirt that is not backwards! I also want to remember that you are a sweet and sensitive boy who is always quick to give hugs and share feelings.  You love to read and learn about things, but you also love to play outside and be rough and tumble... hence the broken bone.  You love any kind of soup, mushrooms, and chicken, but you always have a compliment and say thank you about any meal you are given.  You are usually polite, and you are kind and patient with younger children, especially your sisters.  I know that you have dealt with the brunt of my sadness and stress and impatience this last year, and I want you to know that you are my right-hand man.  You make all our lives better because you are part of our family and I really don't know what we would do with out you.  I could not ask for a better son and you make me proud to be your mom every single day! I love you more than anything in the world!

Those Dinner Table Conversations....

I love eating dinner with my kids.  Tonight's discussion was about which of the food groups were represented on our plates.

Jake:  We have lots of veggies. Carrots, peas, onions, celery, those are all veggies, right Mom?

Me:  Yup.

Jake:  And chicken is meat, so that is a protein.

Me:  Right again.

Jake:  The noodles... ummm....

Me:  Pasta is a grain.

Jake:  Okay, so meat, vegetables, and grain...

Evie:  Hey! Did you know gum is sticky!  If you fling it around it will stick to stuff!

We are going to be in soooo much trouble....

Today as Brian was leaving for work he asked if I had a dollar. I told him he couldn't have it because he was just going to get a soda pop and since that is all he ever drinks he is going to end up with diabetes because he doesn't take good enough care of himself. (I was mostly just teasing him while digging in my wallet for the dollar...) Then Evie pipped up, "Hey Dad! You should tell Mom, 'If you don't like soda pop why do you drink it'?"

Ouch! Bazinga!

I've come to expect that kind of rapier wit from her brother, but it completely blindsided me coming from my sweet little three year old.

But speaking of her brother...

When I picked Jake up from school yesterday I asked how his day went. He looked at me with a long suffering expressing and said, "I was forced to hug a tree today." I immediately pictured rogue environmentalists roaming the playground and herding children towards the trees. "What? Who forced you to hug a tree?" He heaved a huge sigh and then said, "Well, the librarian read us 'The Giving Tree' today and... let's just say she strongly suggested we hug a tree today to thank them for all they do for us."

I just hope that being forced to hug a tree hasn't ruined that book for him, it's one of my favorites.

It's 1 am... why are you still up?

I hate nights when the baby refuses to sleep. Most of the time she is an angel, we do our night-time routine, we kiss her night-night and she is out. But teething throws a major wrench in the works and then we are all miserable. She'll lay in our bed and whine for hours or only fall asleep draped across my head like a cat. Tonight after three hours of fussing and fighting we broke out the infant tylenol. Two hours later I have come to the conclusion that it has had the opposite effect to the one I wanted. Instead of calming Lila and relieving the pain to point where she can fall asleep... she. Is. WIRED!

This is what happens with a sleep-deprived mommy and a doped up one year old...


'Sup my homies? (I really need to work on getting Evie to put away her church clothes instead of leaving them on the floor...)


No Mom, I do not want to play cops and robbers.


What do you mean your back hurts? Why would anyone lay on the ground unless its time for an airplane ride?!


Okay, I'll roll around on the floor too... oh look! Toys!


Who needs a dog? I can balance and chew at the same time!


I am hilarious!


Oh look! Feet.


Mom. Enough with the camera already.


Hmmm...


Maybe if I can't see her...


A perfect disguise!


Dang paparazzi!

Happy Mother's Day

"It would seem that something which means poverty, disorder and violence every single day should be avoided entirely, but the desire to beget children is a natural urge."

-Phyllis Diller

My mother's day started off with the totally unprecedented experience of breakfast in bed! This is one of my favorite memories of Mother's Day as a child, making my mom breakfast in bed. But until now if I wanted to eat breakfast on Mother's Day, I dang well better get out of bed and head to the kitchen because I married a man who can barely boil water, or at the very least has done an excellent imitation of someone who is hopeless in the kitchen...

A-HA! You are soooo busted Brian! Because he made blueberry pancakes!

Don't they look yummy?


I know Lila really enjoyed them...


I think I got maybe three bites of my breakfast... there is just no arguing with a starving 18 month old.

I also got surprised with this fabulous, over-the-top, home made card!


Evie was so proud of all her hard work and had to point out each special detail...

"See these flowers mom! We cut them out! See these bows! They are blue!"


"Hey Mom! See this stuff! This is glitter! It's shiny! hey mom... don't eat it okay?"

I loved my breakfast in bed because to me it was not just breakfast in bed, but my husband's way of saying "You work so hard taking care of us, today you sleep in and I'll take care of feeding the ravening mob." He might not know that's what he was saying, but that's how I took it. I was also surprised with the new Lady Antebellum CD and the 1st season of NYPD Blue on DVD. Yep, country music and gritty police drama. Does my man know me or what?

But even more than the breakfast in bed once a decade once a year or the hand made cards, these guys make it all worthwhile. Thank you Jake, Evie and Lila for letting me be your Mom. Even when I make mistakes or fall asleep on the job I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.


Although I would like to renegotiate for a couple of sick days a year... who do I see about that?