Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
August
Wow summer has gone fast. The Lord said to plant a garden, so we did and I've been keeping up with the harvesting and processing of all the yummy veggies. We've been working on more and more projects on our house. Brandon is currently building a big loft shelf in our garage and I stained the front porch and sprayed about two-thirds of our yard for blackberries and hawthorn. Those things are coming out. We have already pulled three pretty good sized hawthorn trees out of the yard but the rest will quickly be following since it has spread all over!! There are little patches of new hawthorn growth everywhere and it HURTS when you step in some accidentally.
We went on a fun ten-day trip this month and forgot our camera. Genius, I know. But there are pics on my sisters-in-laws' blogs. The first leg of our trip was a Chapman family reunion in Roseburg, OR. Sterling met Brandon's cousin's son (does that make them second cousins once removed?) and they totally hit it off. After we left the first night he talked about his cousin Dylan the entire 20 minute drive back to our hotel. It was so nice to see!
We spent two days there and packed up Sunday morning to head to Uncle Bryan's! We were sooooo excited!! Bryan and Kim and Jaxy just moved into their brand-new house in Springville, UT, so we felt very privilaged to be able to visit. I can understand that there could have been some anxiety about having five extra people in your brand-new house, but we had so much fun. We could have stayed a few more days. We went to a huge Dinosaur museum, got rained out of going to Hobble creek, played at the park, ate at Cafe Rio (yum!), Kim and I went shopping all by ourselves, and when the days were over and the kids were all asleep all us parents would stay up and do something fun. We sure miss you guys!
Even though we wanted to stay and play another day, we had promised our friends some time on our trip as well, so we loaded up the van and headed for Moscow, ID. We stopped at temple square on our way up I-15 so the boys could feel the awe-inspiring power of the temple grounds. It was under some construction but we went in to the visitors center to see the Christus. Sterling has been in awe of it since we saw it in the Nauvoo visitors center and he had the same overwhelming feeling again. When we were back on the road he told us he really liked the feeling of that Jesus. We had a talk about how we can always have that feeling in our home by being kind and loving. I hope it sunk in a little!
Moscow was the last stop, and good thing! We hadn't seen our friends the Schwecke's in a few years and it was so great to visit with them. Unfortunately, the boys were at the end of their ropes so we decided to head home a day early. We were glad to be back in our own space.
I know that was a lot, but there's more!! I started potty-training Hyrum last week He's doing great! He hasn't quite figured out you have to sit on the toilet before you go number two, but he has full bladder control during the day. He's so proud of himself!
Indiana Jones starts kindergarten on Wednesday. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. At least it's only half-day.
And Jonah is the sweetest baby. He goes in for his four-month check-up on Monday. He's growing out of his six month sized clothes, smiles at everyone, has a conversation with us everyday, and is trying to sit up. Not rolling yet, but that's ok. He's growing too fast already!
That's it for today. Next week will have growth updates and first day of school pictures. Where does the time go?
We went on a fun ten-day trip this month and forgot our camera. Genius, I know. But there are pics on my sisters-in-laws' blogs. The first leg of our trip was a Chapman family reunion in Roseburg, OR. Sterling met Brandon's cousin's son (does that make them second cousins once removed?) and they totally hit it off. After we left the first night he talked about his cousin Dylan the entire 20 minute drive back to our hotel. It was so nice to see!
We spent two days there and packed up Sunday morning to head to Uncle Bryan's! We were sooooo excited!! Bryan and Kim and Jaxy just moved into their brand-new house in Springville, UT, so we felt very privilaged to be able to visit. I can understand that there could have been some anxiety about having five extra people in your brand-new house, but we had so much fun. We could have stayed a few more days. We went to a huge Dinosaur museum, got rained out of going to Hobble creek, played at the park, ate at Cafe Rio (yum!), Kim and I went shopping all by ourselves, and when the days were over and the kids were all asleep all us parents would stay up and do something fun. We sure miss you guys!
Even though we wanted to stay and play another day, we had promised our friends some time on our trip as well, so we loaded up the van and headed for Moscow, ID. We stopped at temple square on our way up I-15 so the boys could feel the awe-inspiring power of the temple grounds. It was under some construction but we went in to the visitors center to see the Christus. Sterling has been in awe of it since we saw it in the Nauvoo visitors center and he had the same overwhelming feeling again. When we were back on the road he told us he really liked the feeling of that Jesus. We had a talk about how we can always have that feeling in our home by being kind and loving. I hope it sunk in a little!
Moscow was the last stop, and good thing! We hadn't seen our friends the Schwecke's in a few years and it was so great to visit with them. Unfortunately, the boys were at the end of their ropes so we decided to head home a day early. We were glad to be back in our own space.
I know that was a lot, but there's more!! I started potty-training Hyrum last week He's doing great! He hasn't quite figured out you have to sit on the toilet before you go number two, but he has full bladder control during the day. He's so proud of himself!
Indiana Jones starts kindergarten on Wednesday. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. At least it's only half-day.
And Jonah is the sweetest baby. He goes in for his four-month check-up on Monday. He's growing out of his six month sized clothes, smiles at everyone, has a conversation with us everyday, and is trying to sit up. Not rolling yet, but that's ok. He's growing too fast already!
That's it for today. Next week will have growth updates and first day of school pictures. Where does the time go?Wednesday, July 29, 2009
A great blog
I've run across this really great blog called Love, Actually and it is so fun!! She posts tons of cute and easy date nights ideas, love reminders, ... well, you get the gist. Check it out. I have yet to try anything, but I just saw an idea that I'm going to use. A lot of the date night ideas are the stay-at-home type, so find a buddy and trade babysitting with the kids at their house. Then you can get away with some super cheap dates!!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Diggin' a ditch...
Dave Matthews Band has an album out and there is a song that has that line. Everytime Brandon went out to work on his latest project that song would go through my head.
What is his latest project, you ask? A firepit. He saw a picture of this beautiful patio with a fire pit in a magazine and decided we needed one in our backyard. So he started digging. This is a shot of the original hole with the open fire cast iron grill he got for Father's Day so he could have a Argentine style cook out.
He got it this far and then we went to get the cement blocks to line it. His pit was too shallow and too small, so back to digging! He finally got it where he thought it was big enough, but no luck. He laid the first row of blocks and had to dig some more. Finally he had it big enough and all level and was ready to mortar.
The finished product and a very proud husband. He really did a great job. Hopefully soon we will tear up the sod around it and lay out a brick paver patio.
What is his latest project, you ask? A firepit. He saw a picture of this beautiful patio with a fire pit in a magazine and decided we needed one in our backyard. So he started digging. This is a shot of the original hole with the open fire cast iron grill he got for Father's Day so he could have a Argentine style cook out.
He got it this far and then we went to get the cement blocks to line it. His pit was too shallow and too small, so back to digging! He finally got it where he thought it was big enough, but no luck. He laid the first row of blocks and had to dig some more. Finally he had it big enough and all level and was ready to mortar.
The finished product and a very proud husband. He really did a great job. Hopefully soon we will tear up the sod around it and lay out a brick paver patio.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Happy Birthday Sterling!
Um, my kids are growing too fast. I'm sure every parent feels this way, but it is true! My Sterling was born five years ago on July 8th and has been the sweetest little boy. He is an adventurer, he loves discovering and exploring and he is a fantastic big brother.
I kept asking him what kind of birthday he wanted and he kept telling me Batman and I was pretty confident I could make a regular old cake and frost it with the Batman symbol on it. That has been the extent of my theme cakes so far. Well, Wednesday morning, his birthday, as I was dropping him off at his Gram and Papa's so he could go to birthday lunch with them, he decides that he really wants an Indiana Jones party. Fortunately I was on my way to Walmart to get the cake mix anyway, so I just readjusted my thinking. Now, how on earth do you make a birthday cake look like an Indi hat?
I'll tell you. Take two cake mixes, bake one in two 9 inch rounds and bake the other in a jelly roll pan. Next, freeze all cakes then remove from pans. Cut the brim out of the cake from the jelly roll pan, frost, top with one round in its entirety, frost, and finish off with the final cake. Cut sides off top cake at an angle and cut "v" out of middle. Voila!! A very amateur Indiana Jones Fedora! (I think it would have looked better with a fondant frosting, but since I haven't taken a cake decorating class I didn't want to try it on this crazy day.)
The snakes definitely helped sell the whole thing, and Brandon made a whip out of some rope and a handle. I also make some candy hats out of peanut butter cups and Rolos. Not perfect, but again, pretty good for an amateur. Sterling thought it was great.
After he had lunch with Brandon's parents, I took him and his cousin McKade and friend Colby to see Monsters vs. Aliens at the local cheap theatre. Then we came home and had tacos and a low-key party, my favorite kind.
He got great gifts, including an Indiana Jones Lego set, Lego Star Wars for Wii, a T-ball bat and ball, a Spiderman costume, and, most importantly, the real Indiana Jones hat, or the best imitation I could find.
This is Spidey Sterling and his cousin McKade whose fifth birthday is this Friday. That's right, nine days apart!
And here he is, Doctor Indiana Jones. Maybe I should explain that we have not let our five year old watch Indiana Jones. He got the Lego Indiana Jones video game for Wii and he and Brandon have been conquering the game together. They have a ton of fun playing it. Anyway, happy, happy birthday to my sweet son. There's no way he can be five!!
I kept asking him what kind of birthday he wanted and he kept telling me Batman and I was pretty confident I could make a regular old cake and frost it with the Batman symbol on it. That has been the extent of my theme cakes so far. Well, Wednesday morning, his birthday, as I was dropping him off at his Gram and Papa's so he could go to birthday lunch with them, he decides that he really wants an Indiana Jones party. Fortunately I was on my way to Walmart to get the cake mix anyway, so I just readjusted my thinking. Now, how on earth do you make a birthday cake look like an Indi hat?
I'll tell you. Take two cake mixes, bake one in two 9 inch rounds and bake the other in a jelly roll pan. Next, freeze all cakes then remove from pans. Cut the brim out of the cake from the jelly roll pan, frost, top with one round in its entirety, frost, and finish off with the final cake. Cut sides off top cake at an angle and cut "v" out of middle. Voila!! A very amateur Indiana Jones Fedora! (I think it would have looked better with a fondant frosting, but since I haven't taken a cake decorating class I didn't want to try it on this crazy day.)
The snakes definitely helped sell the whole thing, and Brandon made a whip out of some rope and a handle. I also make some candy hats out of peanut butter cups and Rolos. Not perfect, but again, pretty good for an amateur. Sterling thought it was great.After he had lunch with Brandon's parents, I took him and his cousin McKade and friend Colby to see Monsters vs. Aliens at the local cheap theatre. Then we came home and had tacos and a low-key party, my favorite kind.
He got great gifts, including an Indiana Jones Lego set, Lego Star Wars for Wii, a T-ball bat and ball, a Spiderman costume, and, most importantly, the real Indiana Jones hat, or the best imitation I could find.
This is Spidey Sterling and his cousin McKade whose fifth birthday is this Friday. That's right, nine days apart! 
And here he is, Doctor Indiana Jones. Maybe I should explain that we have not let our five year old watch Indiana Jones. He got the Lego Indiana Jones video game for Wii and he and Brandon have been conquering the game together. They have a ton of fun playing it. Anyway, happy, happy birthday to my sweet son. There's no way he can be five!!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Gross
I'm really tired of cleaning up gross stuff. Between baby blowouts, spit-up, Hyrum's diapers, and the stomach bug the boys keep passing back and forth, I feel like I am up to my elbows in stuff no one wants a description of. NASTY!!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Two months old
Jonah had his two month check -up the other day. His doctor said he was the star patient of the day, happy and very, very healthy. She loved his fat rolls!
Here are his stats:
14 lbs 2 oz - off the charts for percentile
24 inches long - 97th percentile
15 1/2 inch head - 66th percentile
He is definitely putting on the pounds. 5 pounds in two months! I can't touch finger to thumb around his calves. They are so yummy!! He has a great smile, which I've caught on my phone camera, and he is cooing and babbling a lot. The other day while he was in the tub he laughed out loud. He loves bathtime and laying under this musical entertainer thing that has a little puppy on it. He's also almost in six month clothes. Like next week we'll be changing out the drawers again. Oh, and I bought this huge box of diapers at Costco that is size 1-2 and I figured we'd have no problems getting through it. Uh, it goes to 15 pounds and I've only used 1/3 of the box. Oops! Fortunately there is a family in our ward that has a baby and they will be getting a huge diaper bonus! I guess its time to pull out the cloth diapers. Having two in diapers is a small fortune every month!!
We love Jonah so much. He is the sweetest baby.
Here are his stats:14 lbs 2 oz - off the charts for percentile
24 inches long - 97th percentile
15 1/2 inch head - 66th percentile
He is definitely putting on the pounds. 5 pounds in two months! I can't touch finger to thumb around his calves. They are so yummy!! He has a great smile, which I've caught on my phone camera, and he is cooing and babbling a lot. The other day while he was in the tub he laughed out loud. He loves bathtime and laying under this musical entertainer thing that has a little puppy on it. He's also almost in six month clothes. Like next week we'll be changing out the drawers again. Oh, and I bought this huge box of diapers at Costco that is size 1-2 and I figured we'd have no problems getting through it. Uh, it goes to 15 pounds and I've only used 1/3 of the box. Oops! Fortunately there is a family in our ward that has a baby and they will be getting a huge diaper bonus! I guess its time to pull out the cloth diapers. Having two in diapers is a small fortune every month!!
We love Jonah so much. He is the sweetest baby.
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