Welcome to Puddle Season

Well looking out my window it appears that puddle season is here. The kiddos are thrilled about it. I wanted to get out of the house this morning but since it had rained last nite/early morning everything was still wet. So I decided we'd just go for a walk. Well I wish I would have thought it out a little better: rain = puddles. But I didn't and that was still okay.

We were only a block or so away from home when we spotted it: The Puddle. It was huge - streching the whole length of an alley-way street (dangit, I forgot my camera!). And, of course, it was dirty - full of mud, rocks, leaves, and other such debris. This meant one thing to my boys: jump right in!

Luckily I was there to first roll up their pants (a lot of good it did NOT do Miles) and then tell them, "Go for it."

And. . . they loved it of course. Miles was yelling at the top of his lungs - he wasn't saying anything, just yelling, hollering, whatevering. I was almost embarrased. . . for myself. But it made me laugh each time - well, one time I did tell him to tone it down a bit. :) Miles got completely filthy - he was running all across the puddle and was soaked from belly-button down. Soaked with water and every other sort of wet debris found lurking in the puddle. It was great.

Jonas at first spent most of his time throwing rocks. He loves to throw rocks and is really quite adept at it for a 17-month old. His pants kept falling down at the waist until I finally rolled them there too. After a while of throwing rocks he started to venture in to actually Puddle-Play. He began walking all around it too, splashing and stomping his feet. It was truly delightful to watch.

Since I didn't have my camera there I took some photos back at home. They don't do it justice, however. Miles was completely drenched and dirty, Jonas was from knees down. His socks were white when left for the walk. . .

If only I hadn't actually showered this morning AND worn something clean I might have ventured in with them. Might have.

It makes me miss those days of just . . . playing. Sure, that's what I do everyday now, but it's not the same when you're 5 and playing to when you are 28 and playing. I'd frankly rather be playing something else than with racing cars. It's too bad that I'm not at the same stage as my kids and could be content with playing for hours and hours. But if I was at that same stage then I'd probably be at the same age. And that just wouldn't work - I'd turn in to one of those girls that Miles doesn't like. :)

But I guess I'm realizing the somewhat sad and selfish truth: I've had my turn. I've had my turn to climb up trees, build forts, play cops 'n robbers, run around playing kick-soccer, engage in arts and crafts - real messy ones, play Barbies, have pretend school and pretend homework (yes, my sis and I did do that), catch fireflies and keep them in my room at nite, have lemonade stands, and, yes, even splash in puddles.

But, luckily for me, I have kids now and can enjoy these things once more. For them. It's all about them now. But watching them do these things is almost (ALMOST, not quite) as fun as it was for me my first times.

A Happy 5th Anniversary

So Ben and I celebrated our 5th wedding annivesary this past Friday, the 27th. It seems like it has been so much more than "just" 5 years, really. In a good way, I guess. I just can't really remember life without him and my 2 other handsome boys. In many ways it seems like we've always lived life together. And so far the life we have lived together is pretty darn great.



Ben and I were super duper lucky to have had Jim and Diana come over to watch our kiddos while we had almost 24-hours sans kids. Wow. Knowing that Miles and Jonas were in good hands with people they know AND love, I was hardly worried about them and so I was truly able to just have fun and enjoy being with Ben.



We spent a few hours in Ouray - walking by the shops, strolling through the streets, and eating dinner. It is a beautiful area. Then we drove over to Silverton, Colorado and stayed the night there. Ben's co-worker has a vacation home there and let us use it - how nice! Silverton is a neat town - but very weird, too. We went running in the morning and that was very fun. Then we ate at the local Cow Palace Cafe - Ben's kind of place, :). It was yummy, though. We drove up to Silverton Mountain - a ski resort there. It's like for extreme skiers ONLY. The place was packed. It's only 1 lift - but takes you to like only triple-black diamonds or something. It looked cool, though.



Anyways, we got home Saturday afternoon and all was well at home. Jonas was truly glad to see me. Miles? Well I'm not sure he cared if I was home or not. :) When Jim and Diana were putting Miles to nap, Diana told Miles that we'd be home when he got up. His response? "YEA!" No that's not it. It was more like, "Will you still be here Grandma Diana?" In some ways that makes me feel so wonderful that he loves and adores his Grandparents, in other ways it makes me kind of bummed that he wasn't too excited to have me back.



But it was a great trip spent with a great guy, father, son, friend, but, most importantly to me - Husband.



Here are some pics:





The neat home we stayed at.




















Here we are getting ready for our run. How's that for showing Grassy Rose (i.e., Baby Girl)!?
I was reading something online the other week about looking thinner in photos. One "tip" was to cross your legs. Ben thinks it looks like I need to use the bathroom. Whatever, I'm pregnant and so I probably do!







We took this for Miles' sake. Silverton's version of "Filmore" from the movie Cars. (We both think that Silverton has 2 times as many dogs as residents, and 3 times as many old and junky cars as residents).















Ben was completely embarrased when he found out I took this photo - well, gosh, think of me taking it! I just thought it was funny. I love that I got the menu showing the name of the cafe. Perfect.

Newsworthy

So we found out today that Miles appeared in the paper yesterday - the local Montrose Daily Press. We were pretty excited about it. We don't get the local paper and so I and the 2 kiddos walked down to Main Street this morning and purchased us a paper from a newspaper bin. (I called the Newspaper office and was told they don't print the paper until 11am and so I could go before that time to get yesterday's paper- perfect!) Miles was pretty unconcerned about seeing him in the paper - he was more into pulling down all the paper bins and checking to see if papers were in them. :)

Blog Book

So my sister Erin once wrote about how her blog has bascially become her journal and some friend commented on how you can actually print up your blog. So that got us thinking and looking on-line for places that do it. We found www.blurb.com. It's great! I had some trouble with it but finally it all worked out and I got a published book of my blog - I'm going to do one for each year. I love it! It is my journal and scrapbook in one (since I am a year behind in my kids' scrapbooks, I figured this will at least work for mine).

Once you download the software program to convert your blog to a book, it's fairly easy to use. I didn't do too many frills and what-not, but that's okay. I did copy and paste a bunch because the book was really long at first - since it puts one post per page. By copying and pasting I was able to put anywhere from like 2-4 posts per page, depending on size obviously.

The cost is totally determined on how big your book is. My book turned out to be 63 pages, after I had done all my copying and pasting. My cost came out to be $41.99 - including the shipping and handling. I got a hard-back; the soft-cover is about 10 dollars cheaper, I think. Either way, I think it is definitely a reasonable price for what ya get.

Here are some pics to show what it looks like:

So this is the cover.

Here's a sample of 2 pages. There are many different formats you can do with and without pictures. I pretty much did the same format for every page - except for maybe 5 pages.

A close-up picture of a page.

And just to show you how cheesy and lame I can get, my "about the author" segment on the back flap cover (Sorry, for hard-back only!)














Any questions about it, just ask!

Fishing Derby, Part 2

The Rotary Club puts on a Fishing Derby each year - well we've been 2 for 2 so far in our stay in Montrose. It's great - we get free fishing poles (to keep), worms, and even hot dogs and soda if we want. Again, it's all free. How nice is that? It was a cool day and rained right before we left, but luckily it stopped the whole time we were there - although it was quite cool. So here are the pics to show our adventures:

Here Ben is showing Miles the worm. Miles really is interesting in all things and has tons of questions about everything, but that doesn't mean he wants to get close or touch those things. Yuck.

Here are da boyz getting the fishing gear all ready. Jonas is all set and ready to go with his pole. Funny.

He looks like he's having fun, right?! And he did. But most of his fun was not due to holding a fishing pole - which he did for like 2 minutes TOTAL. :) He and Jonas loved throwing the rocks in the water. They were really great sports - they were just playing a different sport!

See, you can see the fishing pole in the background and the trusty ol' rock in his hand. He LOVED throwing the rocks and making "bubbles" in the water. The little boys were both delightful to watch play - I love them.

Ahhhhh, yes. The Big Finale. Here I am catching a fish - a 10 1/2 inch (yes all fractions count - even 1/100ths) rainbow trout. What a beaut. And if you have excellent memories you may remember that it was me last year who was successful in catching our one catch of the day. :) But Ben should get all the credit: he baits the worm and casts the line - while I just hold it, reel it in, and then realize there is something tugging at the end of my line!

Anyways another super fun day at the Fishing Derby. We'll be there for Part 3 - will you????

(Since I ended it that way I might as well count this as my April's M2M - Move 2 Montrose.)

The Ultrasound. . .

So. . . the big question is . . . will my baby be wearing this dress (bought in Guatemala) or not???? But since we all know I do on occasion put my boys in pony-tails and, yes, even put Jonas in this dress once for fun - the real question should be: Would it be appropriate for me to have my baby wearing this dress?????

To drag it on a little further, take a look at this photo and see if the color of the wafer gives anything away????

So what does a pink wafer mean??? It means that the ultrasound gal (???) found an absence of a boy, and what looks suspicious of a GIRL. I'm a little skeptical with it being a girl, but as there was nothing showing the opposite, and reason for her to believe it's a girl, I'll guess we'll go with that for now!

So after Miles and Jonas got up from their nap, I told Miles that the doctor took some pictures and that it looks like the baby is a girl. Miles has been very adament that the baby is a boy, and was especially sure this afternoon that, "No, mom, it is a boy." I told him that the doctor really thinks it's a girl. Then my poor Miles started to get REAL sad and cry. When I asked him why he was crying he told me that, "I don't like girls." How sweet and cute. He was truly devastated.

But, alas, I had bought some pink wafers to celebrate the occasion and that seemed to pacify him - and even make him quite happy!

Truthfully, I think it will take us all a little while to get used to the idea of a Baby Girl. But I'm excited about it - however I do think it will take a little while longer for the boys in the family to get used to it (including Ben.) :)

Cindy Lou - Who?

So first an explanation: Miles was looking at the pictures that appear on our computer's screen-saver and saw the one of him as Ferdinand the Bull, i.e., with Miles wearing pony-tails. So naturally Miles wanted pony-tails again, and naturally I conceded. Miles also thought Jonas should join in the fun and so I gave some pony-tails to Jonas. I wasn't going to post the pictures (and I still need to get clearance from my dear husband before I do so) until I heard my brother-in-law's comment in regards to Jonas: "All I can think of is Cindy Lou Who [from The Grinch, Dr. Seuss]." I'll let you decide what you think. . .

Easter Weekend

Our Easter festivities started Friday evening getting the eggs ready and dyed. Saturday morning we had our Egg-Hunt in the backyard. I thought I (I mean, the Easter Bunny) had placed the eggs in extremely obvious places (except for a couple), but I guess not. Miles was standing right next to one on a fence post and had to have us practically push his face into it for him to see. It was fun, though. Jonas really thought it was great to hold the egg. . . and then squash it.

Then we came back in and the kiddos found their basekts and enjoyed the yummy treats and fun toys. It was a cool day, but we still went out and had fun with the bubble-thing and with the water-guns.

So we had finished up our Easter Bunny Festivities by 8:45am - and I had even gone on a 4-mile run before all this! wowzers.

Then for Easter Sunday we had bought some new clothes for the boys - sponsored by my dad. :) We got some great deals at the Children's Place in Provo and so that was nice. So here are some pics of Miles and Jonas:

Miles is looking so old and mature here - and cute, too, in my opinion. :)

For some reason Jonas isn't a fan of the nice brotherly neck-hold that Miles is putting on him. OH BROTHER!

How cute! I wanted them in front of the tulips, but it was pouring rain and so that wasn't going to work. And what are they looking up at? Me jumping out behind cameraman Ben shouting, "Peek a Boo." Man it's hard work to get a decent pictures of these two boys. But it's worth it.

bYu and driving Home

so we just took a quick trip over to utah. we got there at about 10pm tuesday nite and came home thursday at 6pm. short trip, but very enjoyable.

we went because ben is a sucker for anything related or pertaining to BYU. i got an invitation to a nursing alumni event (basically a fundraiser,think) that served dinner and featured speaker Sheri Dew. i thought it would be fun, but didn't have to go. ben did. so he got 2 days off work and we went.

it was a very nice program at BYU. i saw my nursing professor that i went to guatemala with when we entered and that was really fun. i really liked her and she doesn't work at BYU anymore and so i was surprised that she was there. i also saw one girl, afterwards, that was in my class (Virginia, if you remember her Kristen) and so that was fun.

but we heard from a few speakers. the first was Mary Ellen Edmunds - the nursing program has named an "endowment" after her (we think an endowment is something related to scholarship and fundraising). she was really great - just so natural and unpolished and spoke whatever she felt! she was hilarious and very entertaining. she wasn't an official speaker, so didn't take much time. then Wendy Watson Nelson spoke - she is the new wife of Elder Nelson. she was a really great speaker, too! she, along with Sheri Dew, spoke on how "Christ heals without a scar." she had a very interesting story to go along with that, but i'm not going to go into it. then sheri dew spoke, and as always, was excellent. she's an amazing woman. it was a very long evening (too long for us, really) but was filled with great speakers and so it was worth it.

then we headed back home thursday - although we stopped off at BYU again. ben thought it would be fun to buy a Mary Ellen Edmunds book - and so we went to the bookstore and did that. we ate our homemade lunches in the cougareat - after spending 10 minutes trying to find seats for us. :) then we just walked around outside. it was honor week and so they were doing some stuff - like giving away free otter-pops (YUM) and they had this bouncy thing that was some obsticle course. ben and miles went and had a fun time - although at the end miles anounced, "i don't want to do that again." he loved the slide at the end, but the other stuff was a little too much for him i guess! anyways, we spent a couple hours on campus and had a good time. i think ben was as close to heaven as you can get on earth. he really loves that place and now i hear talk of moving to provo. . . :)

since i took more pics on the drive home, i thought i might as well post them, too. my kids are wonderful sleepers - in their BEDS/CRIBS. but absolutely horrible sleepers anywhere else - like car seats. they fell asleep for about 1/2 hour - not a long enough break for me. i got exhausted on car rides - miles dropped this, jonas threw this done, miles wants something to eat, now jonas has to have something to eat, jonas needs a drinks, miles needs a drink, and on and on. they did really well on the drive, but it's just kind of tiring. so anyways, here are the pictures:

i mean, really, why couldn't he sleep for more than a 1/2 hour in this extremely comfortable position on a very windy road????

we, ummmm, borrowed these popcorn boxes from my mom (thanks mom!) and the kiddos loved them. i had popped popcorn before we left and they really enjoyed eating out of them. afterwards, the boys played with them for like 1/2 hour or so. jonas liked putting stuff in and taking it out. . . miles would drive tow mater into it - a "garage."

what mom doesn't absolutely LOVE it when her boys just sit and enjoy a good book!? i know i do. it's one of my favorite things to see them do, just grab a book and look at it. miles was absorbed in his dinosaur book: "what is that bone mom?" and jonas loved his I SPY book: "airplane, airplane, bike."

and that's that.

M2M 2

so i obviously have failed in my new year's resolution of doing a "why you should move to montrose" (M2M - move to montrose) post each month - i have only done one so far. being as this is the last day of march, i thought i better post something quick!

so one benefit of living here is you can all four seasons - now while i could do without summer, i really do love the seasons and experiencing them all. Winter is winter (cold with some snow - if you want more snow, head an hour or so in either direction and you get LOTS of it), spring is spring (some rain and wind), summer is summer (hot, BLAH, but not hot-hot like AZ), and fall is fall (cool temps, pumpkin-patches, colorful leaves).

here's what it looks like - to get a good picture i'll compare 2 cities. montrose on the LEFT and maine, new york (where we lived) on the RIGHT:

now mind you, if you like cloudy, VERY snowy, VERY cold, VERY wet, and VERY humid days, please do not move to montrose. but for all the rest of you out there, come enjoy the wonderful four seasons of montrose, colorado. we're waiting. . .