Aug 31, 2012

Eat your M&M's with a Fork

One of Harrison's favorite games is "Let's Trick Each Other"  (That isn't actually its name.  It doesn't have a name.  I just gave it that name for the sake of this post.)

First he'll say something like, "Look, Mommy!  Look, Mommy!  There's a bird in the house!"

And when I say "What? Where??" He says "I'm just kidding!"   And then it is our turn to try to trick him.  We play it during dinner, while we're driving, when he should be going to sleep. . .

He gets pretty creative.  He'll say things like: "Look, Mommy!  Look, Daddy!  That mountain is flying up in the air!"  OR "There is a Giant Spider in the road!" and when we say "Oh No!"  He gleefully responds "Just Kidding!"

One time  while we were all in the car he said "Look, Daddy!  Look, Daddy!  There is a piece of cake back here for you!"

Which really crossed a line.  You don't make jokes about cake.




Colin likes to put on his backpack, or my purse, or sometimes just sling a bucket over his arm and say to me, "Bye!"
So I say "Bye!  Have a nice day!"
Then he says "Home!"
and I say, "Oh, welcome home!  I missed you so much!"  And then he does it all over again.  He used to run out of the room between the "Bye" and the "Home", but now he just saves time and doesn't move at all.





Batman PJ's: F-U-N



The camera on my phone: J-U-N-K.

Aug 29, 2012

Last Shave Ice of the Summer - 8/20/12




Aug 27, 2012

A Message From Colin

kkkkkcjk                                                 kk                 nk;6kjh  ,    gggggggggp9hwf jddddh dedh;;;// x./S[00;5.t',.s


Aug 24, 2012

Lagoon 2012

Since Harrison starts school on Tuesday, we wanted to have one last Hurrah for the summer so we spent Friday at Lagoon.  Some people might not think Lagoon counts as a "Hurrah", but we are simple folk.


Richard and I tried several times to take a GOOD picture of the 2 of us together, but this was the closest we could manage.


We spent a lot of time at Lagoon-A-Beach, which Colin loved.  He could happily go down water slides all day long.  Harrison preferred the Lazy River.

Later Harrison got attacked by a snake!

Colin was too little to go on Rattlesnake Rapids, so he and I just had to wait for Daddy and Harrison.  You can see how Colin felt about that.

Harrison doesn't like to go on things that go up high, so Colin rode the Helicopters alone.

But the train was fun for all!


We went camping that night with my sister and her family, and the next day went to the Brigham City Temple Openhouse.  It was a pretty great little vacation!

Aug 23, 2012

Fun in a Tree

Harrison is playing with some chess peices in the other room.  The chess pieces are having this conversation:
"But, Boss..."
"I"m not your boss!"


If someone is coughing because they drank too fast and their juice went down the wrong pipe, Colin is always the first to lend a hand and pat them on the back.  He's also quick to pat a person on the back if they sneeze or clear their throat too loud.  The problem is he is just so short, so if I am standing up when I cough or sneeze, he'll just come up and pat me on the bum, cuz that is as high as he can reach.  If HE is coughing, he expects someone to pat his back, but if they don't, he'll reach his little hand around and pat himself.


Fun in a Tree!




Aug 19, 2012

Beware the Wild Animals


Harrison created this "outfit" the other day and told me he was attacked by a tiger.  I'd say he should count himself lucky.  He came out of it unharmed and that is what is important, but his plastic bag is just ruined.

Aug 18, 2012

Dust in Time

One of the fun parts of remodeling is demolition.  It is fun because you get to smash things, and a couple hours work yields such huge results.  And because you get smash things.

However, if you LIVE in the house while you are demolishing part of it, some of that fun is diminished.  By the dust.  And I really don't know how else to put this.  I HATE IT.  I hate to dust under normal circumstances.  So normally I just pretend the dust isn't there.  But after knocking down a brick wall, or tearing out some lathe and plaster, the layer of dust over everything in my house is so thick my only choice is to break down and clean it.

We finished all the demo a while ago though, thank the heavens.  And now I am back to just having regular amounts of dust on all my furniture and ignoring it like every red-blooded American should.  That is until Richard recently decided he needed to knock a small hole in the brick wall in the living room for the air return.  It is very complicated.  Don't ask.

So he pulled out his air compressor and his little jack hammer attachment and knocked a hole in the wall and got dust all over the place and I dutifully cleaned it up like the dutiful wife I am.  I dusted the whole house and mopped and polished the wood floor in the living room and the room looked great.  A few days later he decided the hole was a little too small so he got out the jack hammer and knocked out some more bricks until the hole was just right.


Awe.  Such a pretty hole in the wall.  I looks like the entrance to an ancient tomb full of junk.

And now everything is covered in dust again, just for me.  Which is great!  Only I really don't want to mop the floor again.  I swept the best I could, but here is the floor after sweeping:


Honestly I'd rather tear the floor out than have to mop it again.

I can't remember now why I am telling you this.  If anyone can think of a reason, please clue me in.

Photographic Evidence that Splash Pads are Fun


 






Photographic Evidence that my children are Goof Balls:



Aug 13, 2012

Words from my brain and Pictures from June and July

First, I should just tell you what my boys are up to.  If I can remember.  It is 12:30 am and my brain doesn't work so good, but this is the only time I have to do this.

Colin at 2 is very much the same as he was at 6 months, only louder, more opinionated, and more capable of getting into every single thing in the world.  He is crazy independent.  He wants to do everything himself.  With no help.  But most things he Just Can't Do, so he is wildly frustrated most of the time.  Watching him frantically pull at the buttons on his shirt is so sad and cute.  His determination pays off though.  He has about got dressing himself figured out, as long as no buttons or snaps are involved and you don't care if things are on backward or not.

But at the same time he is so helpful.  Oh, he wants to help with everything.  And he will do just about anything I can think of to ask him:
Throw this away for me
Please close the door.
Take this cup to the sink
Put your shoes away

I tell you, it is nice.

At his 2 year Doctor's check up he was 33.5" tall, 27.5 lbs, and his head is 19.5 inches around.
That puts him in the 25% for height, 43% for weight, and 72% for head size.

His head is huge!  It's like an orange on a toothpick.  It is like 3 times the size of the rest of his body!  I know that doesn't sound right, but I stand by my math.  He really does fall down a lot.  Because he is a dare devil, because he is not too inclined to learn from his mistakes, and because his noggin is ginormous!

One of his favorite games lately his to play Peek-A-Boo.  He hides behind something, then jumps out and says "Peek-A-Boo!".  When I scream like I am terrified (because, I assure you, I am.) he says "Me!"  Which is to say, "Don't be scared mom.  Its just me!"  We do it over and over.

ALSO, he has moved out of his crib and into a regular sized bed.  Getting him to stay in it at bed time is a challenge, but it is only day 3, so I have a lot of hope for the future.


Harrison is... so Harrisony.  He is still determined to pick out his own clothes, but is slightly more willing to vary his wardrobe lately.  Not based on my suggestions, just based on what is in his drawer.  As long as I don't interfere, he does ok.  He prefers long sleeve shirts and long pants no matter the weather, but if they are all dirty, he will deign to wear a short sleeve shirt from time to time.  He also wears socks.  Constantly.  He goes through them at a mad pace.  It is a little hard to keep up with him.

He constantly says things that surprise me, and I've got to start writing them down because they are just too awesome.   The other day at the grocery store when he got a free sucker he stopped to ask me if it was Gluten Free.  Today he was playing legos with no shirt on.  And he built a Shrinkinator (his words).  He aimed it at me and said
"My name Doctor Naked Top (that a evil name) and I going to make you tiny!"


Ok, here are some pictures, because after reading all of that, you've earned it.

My favorite shoes of Colin's.  Mostly because he can't take them off.  He goes through about a pair of shoes a month normally, because he always takes one off and chucks it whenever we are away from home.


Harrison at his Preschool Graduation.

At Chuck E. Cheese with Jenn.

Harrison's Clark Kent glasses.

Another original outfit by Harrison

Shopping with Supermen.

Goodbye!

Aug 8, 2012

Observations From Life On the Trail.

Well, I did it again.  I went out to Wyoming and pretended to be a pioneer for a few days with the youth in our ward.  And it was good.  Really good.  And I'd like to share with you a few observations I made along the way.


1.  Getting Older is the Pits.

The first day we pushed handcarts 14 miles over Rocky Ridge.  Which is more than I walk in an average year.  And I managed to hurt my back the day BEFORE we left.  HOW did I hurt my back you ask?  What impressive feat of strength was I performing that caused me such injury?  Well I'll tell you, since we are friends and all.  I hurt my back while I was standing up.  I had been sitting, and then I stood, and somewhere in the process something went wrong and boom, Back Hurty.  So, yeah, that totally happens all the time.  When you are old.  And I remembered that when you are old the ways you can hurt yourself are increased exponentially.  You might hurt any one of  your necessary body parts unexpectedly while:
drinking some water
going to the bathroom
waving at your neighbor
watching MASH reruns
eating a a slice of cheesy pizza
Calling your granddaughter
Doing the Roger Rabbit

Those are just a few examples.  I believe I've already mentioned how easy it is to hurt yourself, and that is just compounded when your body starts to actively fall apart.  It will betray you.  Don't trust it.


2. Walking a lot is a lot like life.

After we'd been walking for a while, my feet started to hurt.  But I kept going.  And then it was ok.  Not that my feet stopped hurting, I just go used to the fact that they hurt.  After we'd been walking a while longer, I suddenly realized how tired my legs were.  But I kept going.  And after a while it was ok.  Not that my legs stopped being tired, I just got used to the fact that they were.  And the next day we walked a few more miles.  And the next day we walked some more.  So that when we got home, besides the blisters on my toes, I wasn't sore at all. Quitting after 14 miles and laying perfectly still in my bed for a week sounded really nice, but I probably would have been hobbling around for days afterward.  Because we just kept going, I am fine.

Life is like that sometimes.  Things are good, and sometimes something crappy comes along and even though you don't want to you just have to keep going.  Keep waking up every morning and being a person and after a while (sometimes after a long while) you suddenly realize that things are ok.  Not that the crappy thing is gone, you just got used to it.  You just got strong enough to bear it.  Sometimes the best way to overcome our trials is just to keep going.

3. I'm not as bad at talking to people as I always thought.

I've never considered myself much of a conversationalist.  But it isn't so much that I'm bad at it, it's just that it takes me about 5 hours to warm up to someone enough to have an actual conversation with them, and most days there just isn't enough time to squeeze that in.

4.  The best way to show someone how strong they are is to give them a chance to prove it.

On Day 2 they let the women push their handcarts by themselves.  Up a very steep and very sandy hill.  And the men just had to stand there and watch.  I love to see what that does for the girls:  Realizing how hard it is - because sand has got to be 10 times worse for pushing through than rocks - and then realizing that they can do it anyway.  Realizing how hard it is for people who care about them to stand there and watch them struggle and not be able to do anything to help.  Realizing how much they need each other.  Realizing how strong they are.

5.  Teenagers don't complain as much as we think they do.

Everybody is always all "Teenagers are the worst!  Blah Blah Blah"  But they really aren't.  In fact, they are pretty awesome.  They can be nice and reverent and kind and hardworking and responsible and wonderful and funny, just like real people!

6. White is a BAD choice for an apron.

Day one.  White.
Day two: Holy cow this apron is crazy dirty!
Day three:  Stroke of Genius! I'm gonna turn my apron over so it only looks almost crazy dirty.
Day four:  Barbecue sauce?  Really?  Chocolate pudding?  Where did that even come from?




7. You don't need to see yourself in the mirror to know you look bad.

If you are walking around in full pioneer dress in 100 degree weather, sweating like a horse, through dust and cow pies with no shower for days and chocolate pudding on your apron, you will probably start thinking that you look pretty bad.  And even if there are no mirrors anywhere to confirm your suspicions (and there weren't) just take my word for it now.  You are right.  You DO look bad.  You are filthy and you smell.  Get used to it.

8. 50 stinky people on a bus don't smell too bad when you are one of them.

But a bathroom on a bus, used by even a couple teenage boys who apparently have bladders the size of children, can just about knock even the stinkiest of us over with its bouquet.

9.  I really, really, really, like my husband.  But nobody knows, so don't tell, OK?

I want to tell you how spiritual it all was.  I want to talk about how walking a few miles in the shoes of the pioneers - and that being my comfortable, well-fed shoes - has made me better appreciate the sacrifices they made and understand how much it meant to them to get to Utah where they could be with other members of the church and be sealed to their families for eternity.  I want to tell you how much I learned about enduring through trials and being faithful no matter what, how we are all stronger than we think we are and that the Lord has big things planned for us and getting us ready for them really hurts sometimes.

But I won't.  This is, as you know, primarily a Health and Fitness blog, and I don't want to mess with that.  I might lose my Health And Fitness Blog Certificate, and none of us want that.

Don't forget to eat your vegetables?


-a special Thank You to Lynsie from whom I stole the pictures.  Thanks!

Aug 6, 2012

Colin's 2nd Birthday

On Colin's birthday we continued what I think is going to be a tradition: Singing and presents at breakfast.



 Look at that smile.  I could die.


One of the most popular gifts was Superman pajamas for both boys.  They entertained the boys all day long.





I made these cupcakes for Colin's party.  (I got the idea from Bakerella).



And they were really quite good.  Brownies in the middle of cupcakes are delicious.  Who knew?


We had family over for a barbecue, cupcake burgers, homemade icecream and swimming.  A perfect evening.  Even the birthday boy had a good time.


Congratulations on surviving 2 Whole Years So Far!