Happy Birthday Wilson

Well the big dog turned 4 years old today - what a party we had! Cake, candles, and presents. And just in case you are wondering, no we did not give Wilson a bite of the cake. He really wasn't that interested. Maybe that was due to the real bone we gave him - or the bone sent from Grandma and Grandpa Maxwell that they found in their yard (one he had buried while staying there). I think he had a good day. After the big celebration we gave Wilson another present - a nice, long WALK. The rest of us enjoyed the chocolate "bone." YUM

the Adventures of Today

When Jonas went down for his first nap we went out to water the lawn. At first Miles was real content with his dump truck and dirt at the side of the house. But then he noticed that the sprinkler was making PUDDLES. And what little boy can resist puddles - none that I know of. So he just had the time of his life playing in the puddle. The end product was a watered lawn, but an even more-watered boy! He LOVED it.


Later on in the day we were playing with magnets. I showed him how you can pick up other magnets with a magnet. The cool thing was that we have a bird magnet and a birdhouse magnet. So the little bird would "fly" up to the birdhouse - very neat! Miles kept yelling: "BIRDIE, fly up!" It was so darn cute.






But MY fun adventure of the day was going to Salvation Army. At first I wasn't all that super-excited about it. Ben wanted to go to buy an outside "work" shirt (which he found - when we got home we realized it is reversible. cool, 2 for 1 deal!). Anyways, while Ben was looking at shirts and Miles was playing with toys, I wandered past some of the appliances and found a stove. It's very cool - really old (not sure how old????) - but looks like it is in excellent condition. It is way nicer than what is in our house - no more huge dent on the range top. I really love it and Ben gets to pick it up tomorrow! YEA! But the even cooler thing was that it WAS $50 - but was half off! LOVELY. So I am super excited about my $25 stove. Ummmm, let's just hope it works.

The 50 cent tricycle

We went to some garage sales on Saturday hoping to find some garden tools. We didn't find anything for the garden, but we did come across this nifty and cheap tricycle for Miles! It was missing a seat but I told Ben he could just make one for it. So we paid our 2 quarters and then came home and Ben sawed a seat, I sanded and painted it, and then we screwed it on! Fun, fun. Miles really likes talking about it and gets all excited - then he spends about 1 minute on it before he wants off! I guess we won't be seeing him in the Tour De Lawn for a while longer.

Hand Me Downs

My big outing of the week was going to the hardware store yesterday to pick up a few things for our curtain rods. While I was out I decided to go and check out the consignment store (Hand Me Downs) a few blocks down. It was a pretty good consignment store for kids - tons of books for really great prices! It also had tons of hats and I guess I was a sucker for them - I bought 5 hats for $5! Amazing. It was fun - and, yes, the duck is wearing a girl's hat - so, yes, once again I have cursed myself and will probably never have my little girl. Oh well, there's always nieces (hint, hint erin, laura, debbie, and brittany! haha).




I had to set up my tripod to take the picture since Ben has to stay late at work for some CPR classes. Anyways, Miles thought the tripod was pretty exciting - especially the screwdriver that came with it. So Miles set to work "fixing it." I didn't know it was broken!








This is a picture of Jonas while he was sitting up - it's not very good because I had to take it and guard him at the same time! About 2 seconds after I took this picture I had to dive down and save Jonas from doing a nose-dive on the floor!

Just For. . .

Just for the RUN of it. . .

this past weekend we went up to utah to run the Provo River 10K - it is becoming an annual event for our family (we did it last year as well). we had a great time and just loved it again! we don't know how much longer we'll be taking the kiddos with us, but they did great! miles had fun looking at the river and jonas fell asleep - excellent! it was awesome and we just love being up in that beautiful canyon.

Just for the HAY of it. . .

after the run we went to thanksgiving point's animal farm. it was a fun, fun time for miles. he got to ride the pony twice - you get a free ride for each adult admission. ben and i weren't sure the ponies could hold us up so we reluctantly gave up our rides for the little man. he had a blast!

Just for the FUN of it. . .

and for the ride home - to make it fun for miles - we borrowed the dvd "finding nemo." miles totally loved watching it! he watched, and even listened with the earphones, to about 3/4 of the movie. this is really the only time he ever watches tv/movies and so it is pretty exciting for him. it would have been a "fun" car trip for mom and dad, too, if jonas didn't cry for the last 1/2 of it. oh well, 1 out of 2 kids isn't bad, right?

the Emily Post

so i just wanted to write and say i had my 15-minutes of fame today. i wrote a letter to the editor of the denver post and it was in the newspaper today! how fun. i wrote in response to an article about warren jeffs (leader of the FLDS church) in which the article named jeffs as a "mormon religious leader and prophet." i thought that was appalling and so i sent in a letter and it got published.

the Chef

so i know i am posting a ton, but i just had to show these pictures. i mentioned yesterday how my boy just loves to play in the kitchen, and he was hard at work today! i know everybody who sees what miles can make will want some of his delicious "oatmeal" and so i will give you the recipe for free: 1 1/2 c. rice krispies, 3/4 c. water, 3 whole wheat saltines - chopped with a plastic fork, 1/3 c. salt. stir and pour, stir and pour - do that about 124 times. then top it with some lettuce. YUM. miles did call this "oatmeal" and did taste it - and, ummmm, his face told it all. that's why i am giving out the recipe for FREE. . .

getting my ABZzzzzzzs

so he did it! jonas slept through the nite - wahooo! i fed him at 10, went to bed around 10:15 - and then didn't wake up until MY alarm went off at 5:45. very cool. we were all happy and all well-rested. it was the most consecutive sleep i have had in over 130 days. wow. and doesn't he just look so happy? maybe it was because 2 nites ago i had this dream and in the dream i was taking a test - the test was writing down dr. seuss' ABC book from memory ("big A, little a, what begins with a? aunt alice's airplane, a, a, a, . . .") i guess i passed or something and was rewarded by the Zizzer Zauzer Zuzz (from the book) and got some extra ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzs.

monkey see, monkey do

so miles really does like to play with kitchen stuff. the other day i was browsing on ebay at all the plastic food toys for miles - but ben that it was "girly" and that miles wouldn't like it. yeah, right. the kid really does love making food (he made 98% of the banana bread last friday) and feeding his bears, etc. whenever we go somewhere that has a play kitchen miles runs over to it and starts playing right away! i don't think it makes him "girly." he just does what he sees his mom do (notice you won't see him EVER cleaning the bathroom - haha!). mind you, he LOVES to play in the dirt, too. he was delighted this past weekend to help grandpa and dad with the "horse poop," i.e. manure/compost. let's just hope he doesn't start cooking and eating his outdoor creations. . .

home sweet home?

after about 3 1/2 months of being apart, our family is all together again - including WILSON. grandma and grandpa maxwell have been babysitting him since january. they've enjoyed him, but we are sure glad to have him back! but i'm not quite sure how wilson feels about the whole thing. he adores ben, of course, but, ummmmm there is this 2-year old (we won't mention any names) who can't leave wilson alone: pulling the tail, yanking on ears, pushing his bum, poking his eyes, etc., etc.! we've had a few time-outs and hopefully the teasing will end soon. one thing that i know wilson does enjoy about this certain 2-year old though: CRUMBS on the floor! that just might make up for all the other unpleasantries. . .