Oh - Rainy Day!

On Tuesday we were treated to a lovely afternoon thunderstorm that brought some good rainfall.  We had been out-back playing and could hear the thunder for quite a long while before it came to us.  I was surprised that none of my children cried out when the thunder roared - as my children have been apt to do so before.

Anyways, it started to rain heavy.  And, kids will be kids, my kids started to enjoy the rain.  Miles started a thing of running out in the rain, tilting his head way back, opening his mouth wide, then coming back under shelter to me (sigh, adults will be adults) and exclaiming:  "I got some!  It's good water!"  Of course Jonas joined in.  As well as Emmy - but most times Emmy, instead of getting the falling water, took the easy route and just tried to suck the fallen water off the sidewalk.  Brilliant.

Then a lot of water started falling out of our gutters.  We need to de-leaf our gutters because they are full of leaves and thus the rain comes out in all sorts of spots, rather than just the down-spouts.  But whatever.  It makes life more fun.

Buckets started being placed under the water-falls, then dumped, then refilled, and so on.  Then the kids started drinking from the falls.  And that was fun.  But leave it to Emmy to pick things up a notch.  She decided to shower in the falls.  Lovely.  She got her hair wet and would even wash her hair.  It was great:

And a video just for fun:

Memorial Weekend, 2009

A great weekend with great family.

But I forgot my camera and so we used Diana's camera and had Jim save all the pictures to a disc.  I'm still trying to figure out my computer and find my old CDs so that I can re-install certain programs (like Photoshop).  So I couldn't change the glaring red-eyes in my normal programs, and so opted to do something weird - "watercolor" my pictures.  I just did these 3. The rest should be normal.

The kids were very spoiled (well really the boys) and got to watch a lot of Smurfs (on DVD) and a really cool Eyewitness (my fav. DVDs) "Ponds and Lakes."  Luckies.

Such good looking people!  Poor Emmy is still a little shy/scared of people other than mom and dad.  But that is Grandma Diana holding her and Diana's mom, Great-Grandma Dee, on the right.

And here we have four generations of Maxwells - with Great-Grandma Gwenn and Grandpa Max.

More weekend photos

The kids "helped" Grandma Diana water her flowers.  Oh, they also helped each other get drinks.  I love this picture - Jonas helping Emmy.  And Miles in the background laughing.  My kids think they are so funny.  So do I.  (Sometimes, of course.)

The boys had to show us their soccer skills.  Wowzers.

We went to Bellview Park - I think that is how you spell it.  It's tons of fun.  The boys totally got rockin' on this thing together.  A very joyous moment for us parents to see.  :)

The train at the park.  A definite thrill and highlight.

Also at the park:  a little stream.  It's really great in the hot summer.  On a cold/overcast, slightly rainy day?  It's cold.  But still fun.  Jonas was really scared about stepping on craw-dads (they found shells last year in the stream and Miles kept talking about it.)

Miles loved every minute of it.

As did Emmy.  She was fearless in getting wet and cold.  Of course she fell in and got soaked, so it was time to head home.  :(

On Sunday we went on a lovely walk on the canal.  He is Jonas playing with the butterfly catcher.

And here we are Monday morning - awaiting our wheat-kernel waffles.  I also had to show this picture because I am in my exercise clothes.  A highlight for me of the weekend was going on an-almost 1 1/2 hour bike ride with Ben.  It was a beautiful ride and we saw bunches of rabbits, ducks, birds, and even a coyote.  Oh it was so fun.  Oh I wish I was doing it again today.  Thanks, again, for babysitting Jim and Diana!

We did lots of stuff while there:  library, park, tree-climbing (perfect-sized trees for Miles, too - oh what fun!), more parks, temple-trip for Ben and me, Littleton museum, backyard adventuring, train-driving on hard-wood floors for Jonas, head-banging when mad on hard-wood floors for Emmy, eating good meals - none of which cooked by me, going to church, thunderstorms, friends over for Sunday dinner, visiting with folks and grand-folks, etc.

Lovely time indeed.

My new computer

I got it. It seems to be working well. Let's hope.

I've posted a few posts of what my family has been up to the last couple weeks. Enjoy.

Fun, fun, fun.

We've added a few fun items to our homes. Our kids LOVE them all. LOVE.

We put a swing up in our playroom downstairs. I have had this swing since before we even painted the room, so I've been excited to get it up. The kids (especially Jonas) adore it. (oops, i thought i had a picture of it, but i don't. i'll post it someday.)

Ben also worked so hard all weekend building a big sandbox. It is so great! So great, in fact, that this is the reason I can blog right now: the boys are happily playing in the sandbox (while Emmy is trying on my bra. Ha.)

Also, last Saturday I had a little garage sale. I wanted to make a 100 dollars so I could buy a picnic table from Home Depot. I made almost exactly 100 dollars. Pefect. So we enjoyed a lovely meal last nite outside on our new table.

Fun stuff, fun times.

Teacher Gift

So Miles has been doing a little bit of "homeschool" preschool. Isn't that funny - having to define preschool as homeschool rather than going somewhere? Crazy. Anyways, the school district has a program where a lovely Miss Cindy came to our home every other week. She read books, worked on letters and numbers, sequencing, etc. She always left a red bag filled with worksheets crafts, puzzles, and games for us to have for 2 weeks - until she came again and left a new red bag.

Once a month all the kids and parents (moms) would get together for a big activity. It was so great. Miles really and truly loves Miss Cindy.

Last week was our last time with her. I know I didn't need to, but I wanted to get her a little something to say "thanks." Miles was all over that, too.

So we made our first "teacher gift." We got a pot (Please, it is a weird pot, I know. Holes all over the side. I don't know how/if it will work. But when I have 3 kids in a shopping cart - 1 of which is throwing a huge fit - I can't bear to go somewhere else to find something better. Anyways. . .) We planted "forget-me-nots" and placed a picture of Miles with a note on the back - which Miles dictated to me. I can't remember it all, but it went something like this: "Miss Cindy, I love you. When I grow up I want to be a worker. My favorite food is sardines." Miles really wanted a balloon. This first one he choose said, "Get Well Soon." We both thought that was funny. So we picked another one.

So cute.

The Carnival

So ealier on in the week we had read a book that mentioned roller coasters. The boys were very interested in learning about roller coasters, and we even watched a few videos on You Tube (tip: if watching roller coaster videos, turn the volume OFF). Then a little carnival came into town and so we went. The boys got to do their first roller coaster ride and I'm not sure who had more fun? The boys, or me watching them? I loved it. We did a few other rides, got cotton candy, then finished up with a second and last roller coaster ride. It was a blast.

Pure Joy for kids and parents alike.

More fun.

Afterwards Miles kept saying over and over and over and over. . . "That was so much fun. I had such a fun time. That was so much fun. . . "

The only thing Emmy got to enjoy: cotton candy. She loved eating it, but was a little unsure of holding it. Dang that stickiness.

Love this video!

FHE nite - Bowling

We took our family bowling for the first time ever. It was a lot of fun - and a lot of funny. Jonas crushed Miles - we had bumpers, though. Ben and I tied. Ben had a really bad game. I had a good game. Ha.

Olfactory

I always have found our bodies to be amazing. One of the neat things about our bodies is the connection of smells and memory. One single smell can transport us to a whole different time of our lives. This happens to me a lot. Especially on my runs.

This morning a big semi-truck puffed out some nice black smoke for me to inhale. I was a little peeved at this, but as I ran through the muck I was reminded very vividly (or nasal-ly) of my running days in Guatemala. I spent 6 weeks there during the summer of 2001 - I did a nursing internship with other nursing students. It was very beautiful where we lived, but apparently they don't have any controls over car-exhaust. It was bad. So bad I often wondered if I was doing more harm than good by running. But I was training for my first (and only) marathon - that was to happen 6 weeks after I got back from Guatemala. So I had to run. In stinky, smelly, polluted air. I also remember the amazing and bold thunderstorms that struck each afternoon. 50% of my runs were in downpours. Loved it. 100% of my runs I encountered the Wild Dogs that roam that land. They creeped me out. Luckily I had a trusty running companion, a male at that, that made me feel secure - even if it was a false sense of security, it was better than nothing. It just boggles me that on my run this morning, in Colorado - so far from Guatemala, a smell can take me years back and miles away.

This isn't the only time it has happened. While here, in Colorado, I've run passed skunk smells and am reminded of my runs in up-state New York - where there were not only frequent skunks to be smelled but "herds" (at least that's what I called them!) of Wild Turkeys. They were Huge and They scared me.

I've also ran past aromas of pancakes and waffles and am instantly transported to my days of running in the Grand Teton National Park. I worked at a lodge there one summer and as I made my way back home I'd run pass the lodge and could smell all of the sweet morning concoctions being prepared.

I love our bodies. I love our sense of smell. I love our precious memories. And I love running. Everywhere.

(p.s. These were my thoughts this morning. I posted them over at Marathon Mommies. My computer is still MIA. For my sake, I hope to be back soon.)

almost peed my pants

our computer is sick - well not sick, just old and running out of space.  we are at a critical "low disk space" level for our hard-drive.   i've deleted almost all the programs i can.  but it's the pictures that are taking up all the space.  i'm going to be taking the computer in either today or tomorrow, so who knows how long i'll be gone.  :(  our family went on our first-ever bowling outing for FHE - but i don't dare upload any photos as i already have very little space left.

anyhows, let's get back to the title of my post, "almost peed my pants."  emmy had her well-child check-up today.  (now a little bit of background:  i don't think ANY of my kids have EVER been in the 20th or above percentiles.  NEVER.)

UNTIL TODAY.  i'm still in shock.  emmy's weight is in the whopping 1% (20 pounds for 20-month).  but her height?  yes, HEIGHT - something that does not run in this family - is 32%.  

holy moly.

It's All Relative

Okay, maybe not everything is relative - but a lot is.  Take Age.  When you are in your teens, anything older than 30 is old.  Then when you are 30 you don't feel or think you are old.  Instead, you starting thinking that 80 is old, not even 60 because that's how old your parents are.  Then, perhaps, when you turn 80 you look around at the 100-year-olds and think, "I'm pretty spry."  Age is relative.

The weather.  The weather is very relative.  A 60 degree day in July would mean people pulling out their hoodies, cuddling on the couch with a good book (or husband), sipping some hot cocoa.  A 60 degree day in November means people putting on their short-sleeves and heading out to the park.

Good days and bad days are also relative.  I can think I had a bad day, then get news of someone I know whose husband died and realize my day was not so bad after all.  In fact, it was probably even good.  Really good.  I can even have a truly good day, and then have one that was waaay better and topped all the others.

Sayings can also be relative.  For instance, if my kids were all teenagers and I heard Jonas say in reference to Emmy, "She's a mess,"  I'd probably be concerned for her welfare.  However, when I heard Jonas say in reference to Emmy on Saturday that "She's a mess," I knew exactly what he meant.

Updates

We finally got around to check-ups on 2 out of 3 of my kids (Jonas' 3 year and Miles' 5 year).  Emmy's 18 months is next week.  A little late for all of them.  But whatever.

So I thought I would do an update.  I'll start with Emmy, even though she hasn't had her official check-up.  I'm sure her stats are pretty low as she is petite.  Emmy is absolutely 100% crazy.  Ha.  Crazy cute and crazy insane - sometimes those 2 situations can occur within 30 seconds of each other.  I refuse anymore to do long grocery trips with my kids - all due to Emmy.  She can get M.A.D.  She'll throw her head back, arch, and SCREAM.  It's lovely.  Luckily she still is attached to her "sleepies" and so they can usually soothe her pretty good.  She doesn't "suck" on her sleepy as much anymore, instead she uses the cuffs and tickles her face, arms, hands, or feet - pretty much whatever is bare.  It's pretty sweet.  The boys are really in to teaching her words - they taught her "naughty" the other day.  She loves carrying around babies.  She loves to "weeeee", i.e. swing.  She will also take a book, open it, and start "reading" it.  Her reading sounds something like, "weeeemamadadababy, weeeemamadadababy, weeeemamadadababy."  You know she's reading because her voice gets really high and different.  I like her.

Jonas is still our silly boy.  I can't even explain his silliness.  You just have to be around him.  My mom can vouch for his silly faces - he was giving her lots of them during sacrament meeting last week.  He talks silly a lot.  He rides a bike silly.  He's just silly.  He is like in the 6% for weight - nice, huh?  He weighs 27 pounds - some kids these days weigh that at 1-year.  He really wants to do school like Miles and gets to tag-a-long with us every once a while.  I will "officially" start his unoffical schooling when Miles starts Kindergarten.  He pretty much does whatever Miles is doing.  He knows a lot of random letters and enjoys drawing.  He is especially fond of whining.  I am not especially fond of whining.  But Jonas makes me laugh all the time and I love him for that.

Miles is gearing up for Kindergarten.  So I thought I should wean him from his naps.  Oh so sad.  I don't totally mind it, but he is cranky, cranky, cranky.  It is a very obvious difference in him and I hope it goes away soon.  I'll still have him take a nap on Friday - because I want to look forward to something on my TGIFs.  He can entertain himself well, though, so if it isn't a "school day," I can send him to the playroom and he'll be content.  Or I can give him a box and tell him to draw a picture in each of the squares:

I love his pictures.  I asked him how he came up with drawing the deer (I thought it turned out great) and he told me that he remembered the How-To-Draw book and remembered the deer.  We had that book over 4 months ago.  We never drew a deer then, nor did we talk much about it.  The kid has 2 really stand-out brilliancies (yes, a made-up word):  his memory and his inquisitivness.  He tells everybody he meets that his favorite food is sardines.  And he's serious.  Just today we got a wishbone in the mail from my folks (they had to send me my running shoes I left).  Miles won his wish.  He told me that his wish was 1.  that he could show daddy the new library book, If I built a Car, and 2.  that he could eat sardines with his Daddy.  Both will come true.  His percentiles are pretty small too - I don't exactly remember, but something like 6% for height and 15% for weight.  Miles, though, doesn't believe any of this and thinks he is the tallest and strongest of everything and everyone.

Love my kids.  Always.  Like my kids.  Most of the time.