Just can't get enough!

Have I mentioned that we LOVE summer?!? We went boating on Utah Lake with my brother and our neighbors, Ryan and Alecia, and their kids last Friday. Even though Utah Lake really isn't the prettiest lake, it was still pretty fun!

El Capitan :)

McKinley LOVES boating!

Austin's first ride on the ski bob (aka the water weenie :)

McKinley and Dallin are too silly!

Mason and Uncle Austin enjoying the ride

Mason thinks he is TOO COOL!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Although I maintain that Pioneer Day is not a real holiday (if you are NOT from Utah, you know what I am talking about), I have to say that I do love this holiday. It is a great time to reflect on our pioneer heritage, and the sacrifices of our ancestors. And of course, it is also a great excuse for a summer BBQ with the family! My brother Austin flew in from CA to spend the weekend with us before EFY. It was fun to have him here to share in the festivities. We attended the Bountiful Pioneer Day Parade on the 23rd (which the kids LOVED since their cousins were in the parade), then spent the 24th at Lisa's BBQ-ing, swimming, and just having fun with the family. That evening we went to a baseball game and enjoyed an awesome fireworks display afterwards. What a great day! I thought that I had left my camera at home during the parade and swimming, so no photos of those events, but I found my camera in the car on the way to the ballgame, so there are a few photos from the good old stadium.

Mason getting what he deserves from Uncle Greggie :)

McKinley loves her BROTHER! I love their hugs!

Tyler with the kiddos - and Kinley just being Kinley!

McKinley watching the fireworks with Grandma

It is a far, far better place...

I am pretty sure if Dickens was referring to heaven, he surely meant somewhere like Bear Lake (sorry Jane, I don't share your loyalty to CA). I absolutely LOVE Bear Lake. Every year it is by far the vacation that I look forward to the most. We go with Matt's whole family up to Lisa's cabin for the week. We love to spend time with Matt's family, and my kids love every minute of attention from Grandma and Grandpa, their Aunts and Uncles, and OF COURSE their fun cousins. We spend the entire week out on the lake boating, wakeboarding, skiing, (wake) surfing, tubing, and just enjoying the beautiful water and warm sun. In the evenings we took the kids for 4-wheeler rides, enjoyed shakes at LaBeau's, and even hiked around some ice caves (thanks to Greg for the fun idea!). We had so much fun, I didn't have time to take pictures of everything! However, be forewarned, there are a TON of pictures in this post. Sorry! Words just don't do Bear Lake justice, it is so beautiful! Awwww... Grandparents :) Cute cousins... I love that my kids have such wonderful cousins! Matt and his cute parents Is Mason a mini-me or what? McKinley took her job as the flag-holder VERY seriously Matt and Mason on the ski bob - Mason was obsessed with his lifejacket! He even wore it in the cabin! We had to hide it when we got home! Mommy and McKinley bobbing My poor little ones are worn out! I love those tired faces! Mason getting ready to wake surf with Matt - we have video and pictures of him actually surfing, but I couldn't upload them. He was so funny, he stood there on the surfboard with water rushing past him saying "cheese!"
McKinley loves to dance! This is her shaking it on Lisa and Greg's boat :)

Some clarification needed...

Last night we were playing Mario Kart on the wii with my brother while McKinley watched. There is a little character named King Boo (who happens to look like a ghost) who kept beating me at the game. I kept trying to outrace the little ghost. I finally did and Kinley was excited for me, she said "Yea Mom! You beat the Holy Ghost!" Hmmmm... that may need some further explanation. I tried to explain that the Spirit is sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost, but he is not actually a ghost. Hopefully that made sense, it's a hard one to explain, but I don't want her telling people that I beat the Holy Ghost! Thought I'd share that one for a laugh. I do have tons of pictures to post, watch for them this week!

There are hardly words...

I could try to describe Mason in a nutshell, but there really aren't words to describe his contagious laugh, quick wit, and crazy sense of humor. Sights like this are pretty normal around our house (I won't even try to define 'normal'). Mason decided to take off his diaper and wear it on his head (luckily it was clean, I had JUST changed him), put on his sister's Curious George underwear, and find some of Kinley's hot-pink summer shoes. He went to the bathroom stepping stool to check out his new creation in the mirror, he thought it was pretty funny. Of course, so did we. We shouldn't laugh, it only encourages this kind of behavior :), but we just can't help ourselves. The way he does it is what makes it hilarious, he just has a funny little personality. We love him to pieces - even with a 'diaper hat' on!

Sweet Siblings

Mason woke up just as I got out of the shower this morning. McKinley was already awake and in my room jabbering away. I asked her to go say 'hi' to Mason and tell him I would come get him in a few minutes. I got dressed and went into his room, and this is what I found...

Neither of them wanted to get out, they just layed in Mason's crib cuddling and giggling... so silly. I love these little guys!

Weed Party

No, it's not what you think :). There were no hippies or 'special brownies' involved, just a good old fashioned family day of weeding the yard. If you have seen our backyard recently, it was LONG overdue! I would be mortified if I posted before pictures of the weed jungle that we had growing in out backyard, so here are some photos of the work in progress.

McKinley was a little stressed out about me pulling out her 'flowers' (aka, morning glory and dandelions), but they she decided to help out. I tried to get her to turn around and smile for the picture, but she informed me that she was 'too busy to look right now'. Wonder where she's heard that before... :)

Matt hard at work - we were all up to our eyeballs in weeds ALL day, but by 6 pm we were finally finished!

Mason...helping? He must have been taking a 'quick' water break :)

McKinley and I found a praying mantis. She spent the rest of the afternoon 'taking care of him.' He finally stopped moving (I think he was held a little too tight :), so we told her to put him in the shaded flower bed for a 'nap' since he was tired :). Ooops!

"The man who does not read good books is no better than the man who can't." - Mark Twain

For book club this month we were supposed to choose our favorite Children's Book to share with the group, as well as learn about teaching our children to read. I had a hard time choosing my favorite book, since I have several favorites. I find that children's books are hard to buy. Some look fun and pretty, but the storylines are just pointless (I am sorry, but in order for me to enjoy reading a book to my children, I have to like the story). So, I thought I would share my kids' all-time favorite books, for those of you who are looking to start or expand your children's book library. Please share your favorite books in the comments as well, so that everyone else (myself included) can benefit from your fav's! Thanks!

1. Fancy Nancy By: Jane O'Conner
McKinley's ABSOLUTE favorite book is Fancy Nancy (if you know her, you understand). I actually LOVE reading this book to her because it is well written, pretty funny, and SO true! According to Nancy, 'everything in French sounds fancy,' now who doesn't agree with that? This is the one book that McKinley is constantly requesting to read, and it's one that I don't mind reading over and over. There are now several other Fancy Nancy books, as well as Fancy Nancy dress-up costumes, Fancy Nancy dolls, etc. (I have seen them at Target). This is a little older book, so depending on your child's attention span, probably appropriate for age 2 1/2 and older.

2. I Love You As Much By: Laura Krauss Melmed
This is a very sweet story about how much Mommies love their babies. My kids love the pictures of the baby animals with thier Mommies. The pictures are beautiful, and the wording is very simple, yet sweet. This is one of our favorite bedtime stories. I have been reading this one to my kids at bedtime since McKinley was only about 6 months old. (Our other favorite bedtime story is the classic Goodnight Moon, By: Margaret Wise Brown, we have been reading that since McKinley was very young as well).

3. Brown Bear, Brown Bear By: Bill Martin, Jr.
This is an old classic, but an all-time favorite with my kids. They love to guess what animal is next, point out the colors, and make the sounds of the animals. This book is awesome for learning colors, recognizing and naming animals, and practicing animals sounds. Another similar favorite is the ever-popular Dr. Seuss's Mr. Brown Can Moo. These are great for any age, especially toddler/preschool age children. I love that due to it's simplicity, McKinley can tell the whole story word-for-word just by looking at the pictures. She loves to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear to Mason. We also have this one in a felt story, which allows her to tell the story in a different medium.

I hope some of these reviews were helpful, and I look forward to hearing your book suggestions. Thanks!

Mason's Musings...

Mason was being very silly this morning (as usual). I LOVE that he can tell me what he is thinking now. He didn't say a single word until about a month ago when he suddenly decided to start talking in sentences. He does get a little camera shy (although he does know to say 'cheese' as soon as he sees a camera :), so this isn't the full effect of our little chatterbox, but you can hear his cute little voice. Enjoy!

Cute Grandparents

'Grandpa's Hands' - I just loved this photo that my niece Amanda took of Mason. He was sitting in Grandpa's lap, loving every minute of his attention when she snapped the perfect candid (and LOVE the B&W, good job Amanda!). When Mason was a baby, he was VERY picky about who he would allow to hold him, however, he always loved Grandpa. He and Grandpa have always had a sweet special connection.

After over 40 years, still so adorable!

On Thursday I had to go to the DMV (ugh) to register my car. I was trying to get out of the house early and get all of my paperwork together. Once I had everything together and we were ready to go, McKinley had disappeared. I looked all over the house, then I spotted her in the backyard. I called her to come in so that we could load up the car. She brought in a lovely handful of dandelions (again with the weeds :). She told me they were for Grandma. She was so excited about them, she couldn't wait to give them to Grandma (she told me that Grandpas don't really like flowers, just Moms and Grandmas - so cute!). I told her we probably wouldn't see Grandma for a few days, but she could call her. She had a fun little conversation on the phone with Grandma, then we went on our way. Well, it turned out that we were running errands in the same area as Grandma, Grandpa, AND Matt that day. How lucky is that?!? So, we all met up for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (yummy!). McKinley was SOOO excited to have lunch with Grandma and Grandpa, she just loves to see them! Here are a couple of pictures from our lunch.

Kinley thought she was being very funny 'petting' the horse in front of PF Chang's :).

Faith of a Child

I am not very good about writing in my kids' journals, so sometimes I write their stories down on notebook paper, napkins, or whatever is handy, then stuff it in my nightstand until I find the time to copy it into their journals. I was just copying this story from Christmas (I am just a little behind :) into McKinley's journal, and I just thought is was so cute I had to share.
It was Christmas Eve and we were headed to Aunt Lisa's house as a family for Christmas dinner. The weather had been pretty bad all day, and as evening drew near it worsened. We have an SUV, so were weren't too worried about the snow, but I never look forward to driving in a snowstorm. We were running late as usual, so we had rushed out the door with kids, food, and presents. The drive was slow, but we were moving. Once we hit the freeway it wasn't too bad, a little slippery, but not terrible. That was, until the windshield wipers went out. No big deal, right? Well, that depends. In this case we were in a snowstorm at night with pretty bad visability anyway, but the window covered with thick snow wasn't really a safe way to drive. Matt reached his hand out the window and wiped the snow enough to see to get off of the exit (with the storm so bad we didn't want to pull onto the side of the freeway, no one would see us and we could get hit). We got off the exit and pulled into an empty parking lot. We tried and tried to get the wipers to work, but to no avail. They had just completely quit on us. Of course, we knew what to do in this situation. We all folded our arms and said a prayer as a family. I had no doubt that this would work, after all, you hear about miracles like this all the time, right? What a wonderful opportunity to teach my daughter about the power of prayer, right there on Chrismas Eve. We all had full faith that the wipers would work. We tried a few more things, but after about 30 minutes it was clear that the wipers just were NOT going to cooperate. Finally, we gave up and drove the rest of the way to Lisa's house with no wipers (NOT a good idea, by the way). Matt drove with his head out of the driver's side window in blinding snow, but we arrived safely. We enjoyed our family activities, but I couldn't help being a little bit bothered by the incident. Here I had taught my daughter to pray when she needed help, and this had been the perfect opportunity to physically show her just how that works. Sure, we made it safely to Lisa's, so essentially the important part of our prayer had been answered, and I was grateful for that. But still, it nagged at me. I didn't mention it again. A few days later it was raining as I rushed the kids into the car to run errands (we were late for something, AGAIN). I buckled the kids in, put the car in reverse, and without thinking flipped on the wipers. From the backseat, McKinley shouted "Mommy! Mommy! We said a prayer and the wipers work!" I still can't tell this story without tears in my eyes because I realize that my children don't need me, I need them. They are so innocent and free of the cynicism that comes with adulthood, they see things as they really are. How can I be so blind sometimes? Even a 3-year-old could see and understand that the Lord does answer prayers, but it is in his own time and in his way. It was such a small and simple lesson, yet that is something that I have struggled with my entire life. I can pray with all the faith in the world, but then I expect instant miracles. Sometimes there is something we need to learn before our prayers can be answered. I hope that I can always remember what my daughter taught me that day, and I hope that someday through my children I can learn to have the faith of a little child.
P.S. - This is NOT a very good picture of me, but it was the only picture that I had of our family at Christmas :)

Shoo fly, don't bother me...

This is a 'McKinleyism' for you. There was a fly in our house today that I kept trying (unsuccessfuly) to get rid of. Finally, I found the fly swatter and squashed it (eeewww!). McKinley had been following the whole process and asking me questions as I tried to catch the pesky fly. After I got it and flushed it down the toilet, she asked, "Mommy, what was his name?" I responded (a little sarcastically), "I don't know, I didn't ask." "Oh!" McKinley replied, "Next time, will you ask him his name before you kill him?" How rude of me!?! My first thought was "Sure, then maybe I'll find out his favorite color, too." Instead I just said, "Okay, next time I'll ask. I'm sorry." You've gotta love 3-year-olds. :)

Like Dandelions... and Rotten Bananas

PLEASE excuse the excessive posting, but I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, and as much as I love my 2 and 3-year-olds, they have a hard time listening to deep thoughts. Matt's not a fan, either :), so I blog it (for some reason I have always been TERRIBLE at keeping a journal, so this is my journal, out in the open for all to read. Weird, I know.) Anyway, I have been really working on keeping a positive attitude lately. I am a very organized person, and like to keep everything under control. I get very frustrated when things happen (like LIFE) that I can't control. But guess what? There's not much that I can do about that. I CAN'T always change what happens in life, but I CAN change how I look at it. Hence the positive attitude thing. I have know people who have been through terrible ordeals (kind of makes my petty little trials look like a cake-walk), and through it all have the most positive attitude. I have decided that in order to be the best person that I can and raise my kids to have positive attitudes, I need to set the example (keep in mind I am WORKING on it, not perfect...yet :). So I have been trying to look at things that would normally bother me and see them in a more positive light. I realized today that my kids don't need my example, they already look at life with the glass half-full, I need them to teach me. See, we are not very good at weeding our yard sometimes. Lately we have had a TON of dandelions. Matt and I constantly complain about them, they drive us crazy! McKinley and Mason were outside playing in the backyard today. I was in the kitchen watching them through the window, and cleaning out the fridge and pantry. UGH! Rotten bananas again! Why do they go bad so fast? As I set them aside to throw away, McKinley and Mason burst into the kitchen SO excited and shouting "MOM! LOOK! We brought you BEAUTIFUL flowers! We picked them just for you! Smell them! They are your favorite color!" They do know that I love bright sunny yellow. "Wow, dandelions! Thank you so much, they are very pretty!" was all I could reply. I didn't have the heart to tell them they were weeds. Who said weeds were bad, anyway? They were so excited to put them in a little vase with water. Now they are proudly displayed in my kitchen, this nuisance that I have been trying to get rid of. After all, they ARE my favorite color. In their excitement, McKinley and Mason ran back out to find more of these 'wonderful' flowers. Back to my cleaning. Oh yeah, the rotten bananas. HMMMM... if dandelions can be good, what about rotten bananas? I do have a really yummy banana bread recipe that I haven't used in years. So, rather than grumble about wasting bananas and throwing them away, the kids helped me mash them and bake 3 loaves of the best banana bread ever (which is more like banana cake since it has so much sugar, but that's beside the point:). Ironically, the more rotten the banana (to a point, of course), the sweeter and better the banana bread. So, another day, another lesson learned from my darling children. Again, I write this more so that I remember it than for anyone else to benefit from reading it. The formula for a happy life isn't getting everything that you want just the way you want it. It's finding happiness where you are with what you have. In life, it's all in how you look at it. Anything can be made into a positive experience if we try to look for the good in it. Like dandelions... and rotten bananas.

My Sunday Morning Monologue...

Stacy, I don't know how you do it! I only have two kids (3 if you count Matt), and our attempts to make it to 9 o'clock church sound like this:
...coming up the stairs from the office to shower and get dressed after preparing an activity for music time in primary, I realize than NO ONE is even awake...
"MATT! It's 8:30! We have to get going!"
...Matt gets up and and turns on the shower...
"McKIIIINLEEEEY, MAAASOOOOON, get in the shower with Dad! Hurry!"
"Yes, they need their hair washed"
"Hold on, let me finish drying my hair, then I'll dry yours"
"No, you can't wear that dress, it's 2 sizes too small, try again"
"I don't know where your other shoe is, let's dry your hair, then we'll find it"
"Matt, do you know where Kinley's other shoe is?"
"Mason, where are your pants? I already put them on you TWICE!"
"Did anyone feed the dog?"
"Hold on Kinley, I'll help you wash your hands, did you flush the toilet? Where is your other shoe?"
"Matt, did you find Kinley's shoe yet?"
"Mason, keep your pants ON!"
"Kinley, will you hurry and feed the dog?"
"Oh, let's look for Kinley's shoe..."
"We're 20 minutes late, let's go! Forget breakfast, I'll pack some Cheerios in the diaper bag, everyone in the car!"
"Close the door behind you! I'm coming!"
...door slams and it's quiet for a second, then I run out the door, lock it behind me, and jump into the car...
"I've got Cheerios and sippy cups. Let me fix your tie. Are the kids buckled? Let's go."
...pulling out of the driveway...
"Did anyone find Kinley's other shoe?"
...silence, that means 'no'...
"Matt, I need your keys, I have to go back in and look for her shoe... I know we're late, but she can't go to church with only one shoe!"
...Matt turns off the car and gives me the keys, now everyone waits...
"I found it in the laundry pile! I'll put it on you when we get there, let's go! It's 9:30!"
...I finish my makeup in the 5 minute drive to church...
"Everybody out, we are so late! No, the Barbies can't go to church with us, they need to stay in the car! Here's your shoe Kinley, put it on and let's go!"
...sitting in the foyer as we catch the last 20 minutes of sacrament meeting I think to myself...
"Did anyone ever feed the dog this morning? I'm not sure. Probably not, sorry Monty..."

We'll be blessed for the effort, right? We arrive home spiritually fed, but physically exhausted! NAP-TIME!

Happy 4th!

I LOVE the 4th of July! We did the traditional pool party at Lisa's (thanks Lisa, you guys are so great to host all of the summer family parties at your pool!), yummy BBQ, and ended the fun with a night at a good old American baseball game with friends. It doesn't get more American than that! After the game we all went out onto the field for some awesome fireworks. Our kids loved every minute of it, and they were so worn out that they were both fast asleep in the car within 5 minutes of being buckled in!

Awwww, they love each other!

Kinley 'watching' the game with her friends

Matt drilling Mason on the rules of the game :)

Mommy and McKinley

My Patriotic Girl! Even her hair goes with the Red, White, and Blue

Just to prove that we were there :) We spend all of our time taking pictures of our kids, we forget to take pictures of ourselves together! I love this man!

God bless America! I am so grateful for the freedom that we enjoy, and I appreciate this time to reflect and remember how truly blessed we are! Thanks to all of those who have sacrificed so much for us to live is such a great nation!

Diaper Dilemmas

Okay, does anyone have any suggestions? Mason (who will be 2 in August) will NOT wear diapers! He takes them off every five minutes! I have tried putting a onesie on, he can get that unsnapped and still take his diaper off. He can take off pants, shorts, one-piece zip-up pj's, you name it! He takes the diaper off, goes and sits on the potty, doesn't put it back on, then pees (or worse) in random places in the house - all within about 5 minutes every time I turn my back (and during nap-time when I don't know about it, gross)! I am out of ideas. HELP! I don't think it's time for potty training yet, he really doesn't get it, he just sits on the potty because he sees Kinley do it, he says 'Pee-pee' while he's on it, and sometimes goes (by accident), but he doesn't get the run to the potty BEFORE you pee on the floor idea. I am going crazy here! PLEASE give me any suggestions that you may have. For now, we are going grocery shopping and duct-tape is on my list - this is what I have resorted to. The attached photo is Mason's attempt to put his diaper back on - after I threatened him for the 100th time (today) NOT to take it off!

Mommy Tag

Ashley Comeau tagged McKinley (thanks, 3-year-olds will tell ALL)! Remember, this is all in McKinley's words!

1. What is something mom always says to me? Go see what Mason's doing! (She's right, I probably say that 100 times a day, that child is always into something!)

2. What makes mom happy? I find some nice flowers

3. What makes mom sad? When I take things

4. How does mom make me laugh? Plays with Monty (our dog) and makes him act crazy (I guess she thinks that's funny)

5. What was mom like as a child? Like Mason

6. How old is mommy? 4 (last time she said REALLY OLD, we have that on video. Apparantly 4 is very old!)

7. How tall is mommy? Big

8. What is mommy's favorite thing to do? Camera (Mommy does the camera all the time - that's her exact words)

9. What does mom do when I'm not around? Computer :)

10. If mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Flowers - not sure about that one?

11. What is mom really good at? Water Flowers (I think we have a theme going here, I really can't keep anything alive!)

12. What is mom not really good at? Scoot my chair in at dinner (I guess I have been fogetting to do that?)

13. What does mom do for her job? Computer (again with the themes, I guess since we are sitting at a computer that's my job?) - and keeps Daddy in Line :)

14. What is moms favorite food? chocolate (even my 3-year-old knows that, sad!)

15. What makes me proud of my mom? When she cooks dinner (I guess that's a rare occasion, so she is proud of me when I do it?)

16. If mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? Ariel (I did dress up as Ariel for her 3rd birthday party, so she may have taken that one literally)

17. Do mommy and I do together? Throw balls and color pictures

18. How are mommy and I the same? We are both wearing white and have earings (She is 3, don't expect anything too deep :)and we both have short hair - thanks to McKinley's recent self-haircut

19. How are mommy and I different? I have red hair like Ariel and Giselle and mommy has black hair (it's actually brown, but maybe dirty today because she is calling it black)

20. How do I know mommy loves me? because she says love you so much (and don't forget all of the sleepless nights, diaper changes, potty-training without strangling the child, feeding and clothing the child, etc.)


We tag Mckenlee Perry, Mallory Wright, Tyler Schauerhamer, and Dallin Wells :)

A Fairy Tale Ending

At the end of our fun morning I headed upstairs to make lunch while McKinley and Mason played on the second floor of the playhouse in the playroom. As I was leaving the room, Mason started to cry because he wanted to come with me. He didn't want to take the stairs or the slide down, he wanted to be carried (of course). He stood there at the railing on the second floor window calling to me. It looked pretty funny, then McKinley said "Mom, he needs a prince to rescue him from the top of the tall tall tower!" Well, needless to say, Mom came to the rescue and we all ate lunch and lived happily ever after (at least during naptime).

P.S. - Soon I will post pictures of the finished playroom, I have OCD and won't post pictures until everything is completely decorated and pictures are hung (which may be a long time)!

Boy's got hops

Mason's new favorite thing is jumping. He jumps around like a little bunny rabbit all day long. I caught a snapshot of him mid-bounce and thought it was funny. I'm not a great photographer, but I love a good funny photo.

Boys and Girls...

Although McKinley and Mason LOVE to play together, the older they get the more apparent it is that boys and girls play very differently. Today we had a WONDERFULLY relaxing day, we didn't even leave the house! McKinley begged me all day yesterday to play dollhouse with her, but I never had time (I hate that!). Today (the minute she got out of bed) she asked me to play dollhouse again and I said "sure!". We played all morning, Mason played with us until he got bored and went to play with his train. I took turns playing trains and dollhouse until lunchtime. I need days like this for my kids to know that I enjoy spending time with them, and for me to just play and take time to notice all of the funny things that they do. They are growing up too fast! The best part of this morning is that we all stayed in our PJ's all day! Now THAT's living!