Family Outings

As soon as school was over, we made a list of things we wanted to do this summer. We have been packing in as much as we can before the summer really gets crazy with grad school and a cross country trip. So far we have done Tball, swimming lessons, played with friends, camped in the backyard, and walked to the library. Our bigger outings were to the zoo and the children's museum. I think we will all be exhausted when it is time for school to start again.

The zoo is always at the top of the list of fun places the kids want to go. This time it finally worked out to do the bird show. Brook and Ally were a little bit nervous about the birds flying over head. It was pretty cool, actually. They even talked us into a donation so Zac could have his picture taken with a bald eagle. It was a great start to our day at the zoo.

Sariah loves the zoo. This time she walked the whole way. Way to go, Sariah. She got to spend some time with the camels and even got to talk to a keeper about them. We learned that the camels' names are Mabel and Gobi. We got to watch Mabel eat a treat that was supposed to lure her onto a new scale that she was not wild about. Smart girl. What woman is excited about getting on a scale?


Sam loved the zoo, too. Especially when we let him run on his own.

One of Brook's favorite things this time was the egg at the playground. She was quite content to crawl in and out and sit inside. Maybe it was nice and cool in there. The weather was actually perfect and the zoo was not too crowded either.


They do have a new exhibit of sorts. There are animated dinosaurs all over the zoo. Some made noises and others sprayed water; they all move. Ally and Brook were a little nervous, but Zac thought they awesome. So did I. If you are headed to the zoo this summer, be on the lookout for the dinosaurs.

I love spending time with my crazies. We fit right in at the zoo, loud and wild!

A friend also gave us a pass to the children's museum, so we decided to squeeze in a trip. Zac asked if we could ride the train into downtown. We thought, why not? The trip up was great. The kids kept saying, "This is so fun."

Sam was not as impressed. Probably because he filled his diaper right before we got on. The trip home was a little less fun. We hit all the after work traffic. The train was crowded and we could not all sit together. But the kids were very well behaved and made new friends. They were cracking people up with their very "candid" report of our outing.


The museum was amazing. The kids all enjoyed the Life Flight helicopter on the roof. They could climb inside and pretend like they were flying the helicopter. There was even a button that made chopper sound effects. It scared Brook as it was fairly loud, but she was brave enough to get back in and take a turn at the controls.

Sariah about came unglued when she saw the grocery store. She was definitely in her element as cashier. She enjoyed scanning groceries for several of the kids in the store. It was fun. I secretly wanted a turn, too. Play is an important part of life for all of us.

Ally was excited to play mailman, but before she could deliver any mail she was off to the construction zone where she made fast friends and built amazing structures with them.

Zac liked the construction zone, too. He was also pretty excited about the rock wall. Coming down was harder than it looked. Little Sam wanted a turn, too. That is him in the green shirt.

Brooklyn would have spent all day in the playhouse. There was a little kitchen and a pink mommy dress, all just her size. She also loved the grocery store. Life got even better when she learned that you could shop at the store and bring the groceries back to the house to put away in the cupboards.
Sam loved the museum, too. There were lots of balls and places to run. His favorite was the water play area. He cried when it was time to leave. I missed the photo op since I was keeping track of the others. But here he is drinking water. Does that count? Probably not. All in all it was a fun day. While family outings get a little hairy sometimes, they are totally worth it. I am glad we a building a treasure trove of memories together. Family time is always time well spent!

Kindergarten Graduation

Ally hit another big milestone -- Kindergarten graduation. Aunt Nicole got to come with us. She was a life saver, wrangling kids and taking pictures and doing things with my camera that I did not know my camera could do. Hence the way cute picture above.

The kids did a great job with their program. My personal favorite is "The Rules of the Classroom." There is something too fun about watching little bodies groove to the music. Ally was so excited to perform for us. We were treated to several pre-performances at home at the dinner table and in the living room. Still, the actual day was a treat. We really do have a great elementary school and amazing teachers. At the end there was a slide show. I have to admit that I got a little teary as I watched and the country song, "Let Them Be Little" played in the background. Life goes too fast and we do need to let our kids be little. All too soon the messes and noises will be over and I will long to have my happy little kids climbing all over me.

Sariah, Brook and Sam got to come watch the program, too. They were very patient especially since they could not see very well.


Ally is a social butterfly. She makes friends wherever she goes. So it is only appropriate that we snapped a few pictures with friends.

I love you, Pal and I am so proud of the great kid you are. You will conquer first grade just like you have everything else. There is nothing you can't do!

Haircut!

Yes, Sam was in serious need of a haircut. And yes, we needed some good "before" pictures, aka blackmail for later:) Most of them were in the tub. Sam, you can thank me later for not posting those.



As you can see, Sam was thrilled about the whole process. We took him to see Tisha, who really is a professional. He sat very still through all the tears. Brooklyn was with us and was very concerned that Sam was so upset. Tylie had to take her for a little walk. Thanks, Tylie.

In five minutes, Sam grew right up. It still amazes me how much more grown up they look after their first haircut. Now Sam really is my little man. Thanks for humoring me, buddy.

Numero Uno

Our Sam is officially one. It is hard to believe that he is a whole year old. On the other hand, he is such a part of us that it is hard to imagine our life without him. He was definitely meant to be part of our family. We had fun celebrations for his big day. Two days before his actual birthday, we were at Pack Night. Our friend fed him little pieces of her cookie and then gave him is very own, whole cookie. He was delighted. I wish I had taken a video. He has this infectious little giggle. (According to Grandma and Grandpa, Joseph used to giggle like that, too. I know, it is hard to imagine Joseph as a giggler.) Sam had us all laughing along with him. If only we were all so pleased with the little pleasures of life.


Backing up a few more days to Easter Sunday . . . When we were all together for Easter dinner, we celebrated with Sam and Brook. Sam was not to sure about unwrapping presents. He tore off one small piece and then tried to put it back on. How cute. He liked his singing puppy from Grandma. He also like Brook's toys. We had to keep luring him away from all the pink stuff.

Finally his actual birthday arrived. He still did not quite know what to do with the wrapping paper, but he liked the toys. So did his siblings. I was excited to give him this little racetrack, but he hardly got a turn with it. The big kids took over. Zac was the worst. Now Sam just sits in it. Oh well. It's the thought that counts.

Sam knew exactly what the puffs were and knew just what to do with them.




As per tradition, he got his very own cupcake all to himself. He was not hesitant at all. He pulled the candle right out and as soon as the wrapper was off, he started shoving it in his mouth. His bandaged hand did not slow him down by any means. We got some great video that will hopefully be on the blog soon.

We love you so much, Sam. We love your smiles and growls; we love your toddle waddle and side-to-side head bobble. Please don't grow up too fast. We don't want to miss a thing!

You know you need a new oven when . . .

Sam almost made it through his first year without major injury, almost. The night before his birthday, I was in the kitchen fixing dinner. It was frozen pizza night. The pizzas were in the oven and I was cutting fruit with my back to the oven. Sam was playing in the lid drawers as usual. All of a sudden, I heard him start to cry, It was the "hurt cry," the one you pay attention to fast. I turned around to see him standing at the oven with his hand on the window. I grabbed him away. He could not have been like that for more than 30 seconds, but it was enough to raise blisters on his hand. As I was running cold water over his hand, Joseph checked the oven door. It was truly hot. I had no idea the outside of my oven got that hot. We assumed it was because it was on so high to cook the pizzas. Poor Sam just cried and cried. Half and hour and some burn cream later, he still had not stopped crying. That prompted a trip to the after hours clinic (not cheap). The doctor confirmed he had a second degree burn and wrapped it up for us (not cheap, again). We also got a prescription cream for the burn. We did not see our regular pediatrician that night. When I explained what happened, he just looked at me and said, "You mean he touched the inside of the oven door." I thought, "I'm not that stupid, really." I already felt like a horrible mother, but I am not that bad. I assured him it was the outside of the door, but he just kind of looked at me funny. I wonder if he thought he was not getting the full story.

If you are still reading this story, I will try to wrap it up. Sam was pretty good at keeping his bandages on. He got lots of sympathy. Every time I told his story though, people would all say the same thing, "Your oven really gets that hot on the outside?" By this time I was starting to catch on and little pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, like the fact that our oven has always baked a little fast and seemed to be baking faster. The next night, Sam's birthday cupcakes baked in 15 minutes and almost burned. The oven got too hot to touch again. When we saw our regular pediatrician for Sam's one year check up, my suspicions were confirmed. After telling him what happened, he looked at me funny and said, "Really? I have never heard of a child burning his hand on the outside of an oven." I told him we were pretty sure our thermostat was out and it was time for a new oven. He jokingly offered to write me a prescription for a new oven. If only it were that easy. He did ask to take a look at Sam's hand and asked if he could clean it up and cut away some of the dead skin. If I had known how "not cheap" that would be, I would have said no and done it myself. Needless to say, it turned out to be a very expensive accident, what with the "burn treatment" bills and the new oven that is now sitting in my kitchen:) (The actual arrival of the oven was a fun adventure for another post.) And it will get more expensive, because now I need the cleaners to take care of the ceramic top and real pans with flat bottoms as opposed to the twelve year old warped ones I have now. But Sam paid the biggest price. I still feel horrible that he had to discover the problem with the oven first-hand (pun intended).


Once we got some good burn cream on him, it did not seem to slow him down much. He still toddled around the house with his new-found walking skills and he learned to eat with one hand. Little kids truly are resilient. I am just glad Joseph was home each night that week as wrapping his hand was a two man event.

And I just had to leave you with this. Who couldn't love that messy face with the slobber and mystery bruise on his forehead. I'm afraid he is 100% boy and there are many bumps and bruises to come, but hopefully no more burns.

Blondie Turns 4!

Brooklyn's birthday celebrations started on Easter Sunday. We celebrated with family at Grandma and Grandpa Anson's house since we were together for Easter dinner. (We also celebrated Sam's first birthday, but more about that in another post.) We brought cupcakes. Grandpa supplied the candles. Brooklyn wanted the cupcakes to be pink and blue and purple and yellow and black and white and green. She was surprisingly accommodating when I told her to choose three colors. Pink, purple and yellow won.

She got a fun Tinkerbell barbie and "Look n Find" book. She even got to climb into Grandpa's lap and they found some fairies together.


On her actual birthday, she voted to open presents before Dad left for work. Of course, it was all wrapped in pink. She kept asking, "Am I four yet?" Later that night, we were at pack night and someone asked her how old she was. Without missing a beat she said, "Almost five." Nothing wrong with planning ahead.

It also just so happened that her friend came to play at our house while her mom helped with something at the school. So, we had a little party of sorts. The girls decorated pink wands and ate cupcakes. These two little blondies are peas in a pod. We sure enjoy having Sabrina at our house and are grateful for good friends.


Emily and Chris came over for dinner that night. Then we dashed off to pack night and hurried home for cake and ice cream. This year she wanted a Tinkerbell heart cake with pink frosting. Easy enough, thanks to the cake toppers you can grab at the Wal Mart bakery. (You know, I really resent my dependence on that store. But, I digress). Those are fairy rings on the cake. She loved it. We love you, Brookie Cookie, drama and all. I look forward to all the adventures we will share this year while you are "almost five."

Easter Sunday

I think I have my mother to thank for the obligation I feel to have new Sunday clothes for the kids on Easter. We always had a new dress and she usually sewed it herself. I am over the sewing myself, but I still feel like they need something new. Of course, we probably actually needed something to wear to church in the warmer weather and Easter was the excuse to get it. Anyway, it has turned into a fun tradition. This year, I was even brave enough to take all three girls shopping together. I did survive and actually enjoyed a little taste of future girl time with my daughters:)

Ally chose a pretty red dress that I love on her.

Brook "shocked" us all by choosing pink. The headband from Aunt Nicole was the perfect touch.

Sariah is way too grown up. Who taught her to pose anyway?

I actually took pictures after church this year. No one would have ever known if it were not for Zac's lightning fast ability to change clothes the minute we hit the door. I was a nice mom and did not make him put his shirt and pants back on. He did consent to clip on his Easter tie. What a kid. Sam was not so impressed either.

Joseph looked handsome as always. I am grateful we do all the bunny stuff on Saturday so we can focus on Christ on Sunday. The more I ponder, the more significant Easter becomes. We truly have cause to rejoice in the marvelous blessings that are ours because of the Atonement.