Time for Pickin'

Gross, not that kind of pickin'.


Yum, that's more like it.

Summer Reading

Well I am still working on getting my post up from our July 4th/Family reunion up in Denver. It'll happen when it happens. But one thing I did while there was start and finish a book. How lovely. I read "A Thousand Splendid Suns." It was at the house that we were staying at. I guess it was a good book because 1. I just kept reading it and reading it, even when I needed sleep more than I needed to read, and 2. It had me tearing up quite often (that means it's good, right?), and 3. I am now reading a book, "The Kite Runner," by the same author.

I really did like the book. But at the same time I almost stopped reading it about 100 pages before it ended. I was tired of being saddened by the book. It was depressing. But the hope of something good finally happening kept me going. And I'm glad I finished it - it wasn't a totally happy ending, but good things did finally occur and so it gave me some happy resolutions.

I haven't read like that in a long time - by "that" I mean starting and finishing a book in 5 days. I loved it! I remember in middle school that I would walk from class to class with a book stuck in my face. I really did love reading. I still do, I just don't do it as often.

Also, I'm used to buying books. When Ben asked me if he should pick up "The Kite Runner" I said, "Nah, we don't really have the money for that." Then he said he was going to the library and would check it out for me. Oh. Brilliant.

Anyways, just some boring ramblings from me. I better go. . . I have a book waiting for me.

Quote of the Week

So I think last week took its toll on me. First it was taking care of sick Miles. But he was pretty easy - he just didn't eat for 3 days (probably saved us about 100 dollars worth of groceries. ha.). But then Jonas got sick and he was sick. He didn't eat for about 4 days and just laid around the house for the past 2 1/2 days - literally. He was either laying on the couch, the floor, or my bed, or was sleeping. If he wasn't do those things he was in somebody arms moaning and crying. It was sad. Finally today the li'l sprout came back to his old self. Oh I didn't realize how much I missed his sweet voice, funny words, adorable smile, and his crazy antics. I love that boy and am so glad he is "back." Anyways, a couple of nights we were getting up several times tending Jonas and awakening quite early with all the kids. So I was, I guess, a wee bit tired. As evidenced by this prayer I said last night during our "couple prayer":

"And please bless us that we will all sleep well tonight. And that the cat will too."

What?! We don't have a cat and if I did I don't think I'd mention him in my prayers (I don't think our dog Wilson has ever made it in my prayers). Ben thought I had completely lost my mind.

Nay, I lost it a looooooong time ago.

Thredeos

Here are a few videos showing. . . life.

Here I am torturing Emmy. It was rather fun.



And here is a typical day on the couch.



Finally, what happens when the fun and niceness end and the naughtiness begins -i.e., Jonas in time-out.

Derby Day

Saturday was our first experience with our own Pinewood Derby Car. Our ward had a Pinewood Derby race for anyone and everyone to enter. So we did.

Now, with Ben, you don't just make a fast car. You have to make a car with character. So that's what we did. We came up with the idea of making a sled - but not just any sled, the Avalanche. So Ben built it and made it pretty much look exactly like the real Avalanche (but with wheels of course). It was a beaut. He did a few things to make it faster - since he didn't want it to be the slowest one. And it turns out we weren't The Slowest. We even won "Most Creative Car."

It was a fun evening:

Jonas with the Avalanche.

The boys' favorite part of the evening probably - eating popsicles.

Wow, look how fast the Avalanche is going.

The Avanlanche and the Babe. The girl in his arms is pretty cute too.

Grassy Rose

We took Grassy Rose out sailing yesterday. Correction, Ben took Grassy Rose out for a sail. Ben had a wonderful time and said the winds were the best he's had there.
When Ben saw the picture, he said, "Wow, look how fast I was going." I guess he could tell because of that Huge Wake his boat was making in the water. He's pretty good out there on that sailboat.

While Ben was out in the water we were playing on the shore. The little boys had a fantastic time. Throwing rocks, of course. Why do boys (including Big,Big Boys) love to do this so much?

Splashing in the water. How fun.

And sitting in the water.

Emmy didn't have the best of times there, but did enjoy playing with the rocks a little bit.

Big girls may not cry. But little ones do.

Happy Fathers' Day

Such a handsome father with his beautiful (and, yes, somewhat goofy) children. I made the boys ties and put phrases on them:

Miles' tie reads, "My Dad is my Hero." And it is true - that's why I put it there. Miles really looks up to his dad. He loves his dad and wants to be like him (except he did tell Ben the other day that he is not going to put his children in time out. "Oh really, what will you do when your kids are naughty?" "They won't be naughty." Uh-huh.). He wants to be worker because that's what he sees his dad doing. He loves working out in the yard with his dad and is always asking if dad will be staying home tomorrow, i.e., if he doesn't have to go to work. In fact when I was telling him last week that the next day would be Cupcake Day, he asked, "Does dad have to go to work on Cupcake Day?" When I showed Miles his tie and told him what it said, I asked him, "So is dad your hero?" He said, "Yep." Thought so.

Jonas' tie reads, "I love my Dad." And he does. He has this sweet, innocent, and simple love for his father. He loves his dad because his dad twirls him around and around in the backyard, because he pushes him high on the swings, because he wrestles with him, because he tickles his back, and because he gives him bites of his breakfast every morning.

I didn't make a tie for Emmy. Haha. But if I did it would have said something like, "I adore my Dad, and am adored by him." I can't tell you how many times Ben says to Emmy, "You are so beautiful." This past Friday when Ben came home from work, he walked in the back door and Emmy started doing her Mowgli-run to greet him. It was just about the cutest thing. Emmy also loves her daddy because he is the one that introduced her to the game "chase." She now loves being chased. And even chasing after our "Dog-ghee."

So why do I think Ben is a Great and Wonderful father? I just mentioned it all: he is Miles' hero, loved by Jonas, and adored by Emmy. That's enough for me.

(p.s. Another Happy Fathers' Day goes out to my own dad and Ben's dad. They are wonderful men and great examples to us - and especially to Ben. They support us no matter what - even when we were thinking of moving to Maine. :) We love you both!)

Quote of the Week

Emmy: "DogGhee."


As in doggy. She says it just about all the time. As soon as she sees our dog Wilson she very excitedly says, "DogGhee." She also calls many other things by that name, too. Such as her stuffed animals, her baby dolls, and pretty much everything else.


She speaks it so cute, too. It is more like 2 words and is said very sweet and in a high voice. I'm still waiting for her to say, "Mama." But whatever. I know she loves me more than Wilson.

(p.s. the video isn't the best. pretty much whenever i am around emmy, she has to be right where i am. right where i am - like on me. it's cute. sometimes.)

No Girls Allowed

Miles was so excited to find out that the boys were going on a camp-out without any girls. So excited. I felt loved.


It was the Father-Sons Camp-out with the church this Friday-Saturday. Here is what happened via a photo-log:
First things first - making sure the truck had enough juices here and there to get to the campsite.


Once there (not far from home really) they set up the tent. We love our tent!

The rest of the evening was spent making "funny faces," playing in the dirt and with the sticks, eating dinner, etc. They were able to find some "wildlife" and even got a chance to hold the wildlife:

A grasshopper.

Then came bedtime and then came wake-up time - too early for everyone, probably!

Here's Miles upone getting up. He "sucks" on his arm - but he really doesn't suck on it - just near it (he does it when tired). ? He's done it since he was 6 months old. And guess what!? Emmy does it too! And I hear the my sweet little nephew Everett does it too! Love it.Jonas looks pretty chipper. Even though he woke up after 4 times during the nite (luckily for short amounts of time).

The boys went on a little hike in the morning and had fun finding "pretty" flowers.

I was jealous I couldn't go with them. It looked like a lot of fun. More fun than picking up the house, vacuuming the house, wiping down all counter-tops, mopping the floor, cleaning our room, balancing the check-book, folding the laundry, watering the garden, watering the lawn, and cleaning/vacuuming our car. But don't worry, Emmy and I did have some fun too and were able to squeeze in a little of shopping (for Father's day), buying dinner (rather than making it - how fun!), jogging, and even going to the Farmer's Market and getting free Great Harvest bread.

So I think Da Boys and Da Girls had a good weekend. But it's good to be all together again.

Cupcake Day

In case you don't know it is Cupcake Day (the unofficial one). Miles came up with this idea last June 5th - you can read about it here. So hurry up and make a batch - your kids or hubby or self will thank you for it.