I Love this Kid

James has to be one of the sweetest babies I've ever seen. (Okay, I know I am a little bias, but...) He wakes us so incredibly happy and ready for anything. Seth and I love the time we have with him in the early mornings before Sam gets up. He is so content, peaceful, and always waiting for attention, and when he gets it he is so bashful and cute. We are so grateful for our kids!

Butterflies

So Grandma M found the coolest Butterfly farm for the kids. We mailed in and got our catterpillars a little bit ago and last night we got Butterflies. It was so fun to watch the process. I think I was way more into it than Sam, but he seemed to finaly get interested when we saw an actual Butterfly.

Hockey Dad

Seth has been playing hockey again for the last year and a bit, but we aren't able to go to many of his games because they are so late, but tonight was a real treat. He had an early game, so for our Family Night Activity it was off to the ice rink. We love watching "Dad" play. He is always so good to come and say hi to the kids and they just giggle in delight.

Does this Kid Lead a Pampered Life or What?

A pillow?! Of course he shouldn't have to sit on that hard plastic seat. Grandma M's here to save the day! :)

"Nother Song?"

When I sing Sam usually starts screaming and says, "no" and shakes his head. He's even gone to the extreme of trying to cover my mouth. Now I know I don't have the best voice in the world, but come on kid, I don't sound that bad!
I was always so sad, especially since he will be in Primary soon and me being the music chorister, I just pictured him running up and trying to get me to stop. I had always imagined before having kids how nice it would be to be able to sing them to sleep. I had let that vision die after realizing how much he didn't like my singing, until this last week.
Sam was having a hard time going to bed so I layed by him and aksed, "Do you want Mom to sing a song?" He didn't say anything so I started singing. There was no screaming in protest, no little hand trying to cover my mouth. I was so happy inside.
When I finished my song I just laid there by him and he tilted his little, tired head up and said, "nother song?" My heart melted and I sand about 50 more Primary songs to him. He drifted into a sound sleep and I was so happy.
This little pattern has gone on for a few nights now and I just love my special time with him now.

Rain

One of Sam and my favorite things to do is to watch the rain. We have had so many huge rain storms lately that it's been a real treat for us. I've been able to run in the rain lately and love it. (Who knew that the words "run" and "love" would ever be in the same sentence!) There's something so refreshing about the rain and how the earth is after it. It reminds me of the Primary song about how we want to be clean after baptism like the earth is after the rain. I've never heard a better description of it before!

The Result

Well, it only took about a week and as you can see Seth and Sam are having the time of their lives. It is so cute to see Sam so into something just because he likes it, not because we introduced him to it.
We'll ask Sam to do something or if he wants to go somewhere and he just gives us the, "nope." He is quite content to just stay with his trains and go around and around and around and around.
If we go anywhere he has to take a few trains with him. And as you can see, there is no going to bed without them. Hey, whatever works! And trust me, he know every single one he has. There's no fooling this kid. He is just like his dad, it's so cute.

Our Aquarium

We decided to get season passes to the Aquarium here and have loved it. When we're going to go we ask Sam if he wants to go see the sharks. He then has "Shark Terets" for the next 20 minutes until we get there. It is so cute.
It was especially fun to watch James get so into the fish this time. He was glued. He is growing up so fast! Those little minds are so fun to watch. You can tell there is so much going on in there.
The sharks were especially active today and would swim right in front of Sam and freak him out. He would just giggle with so much excitement he'd almost fall over everytime!
I love when we get to go do things as a family. I love spending time with the 3 men in my life. I love watching how much Seth loves it too. I don't think there's anything we wouldn't do for our boys. I am so grateful that I have an Eternal Family thanks to the Restored Gospel and the Priesthood. I can't imagine ever having to part with them. What a comfort to know that I never have to. I am so blessed!

My Sister, My Friend

I have the best sister in the world. She is my best friend. She comes up frequently with her kids to play with me and my boys. It's never just come and play though for her, she always ends up picking up my house, cleaning something, or doing my dishes. She's so great.
But the greatest thing about her is that she is just someone to be "me" with. We are just two wacky peas in a pod. She's always up for anything. I can call her anytime for anything! She's inspired me to be more stylish, lose weight, and do more. I love her so much!

What did I DO?!

I had no idea what I had started when I let Sam finally get a Thomas the Train at Toys 'r Us on Saturday. He is way into trains and we finally got a Thomas DVD for him (which he never stops watching). So I thought, Okay, let's just get him a Thomas, he has other cheap wood trains he can just add to the back.


Well, as you can see, he loved it. We'd ask him if he wanted to go on a walk, or go to the store, or whatever else we'd ask, and he'd just shake his head and say, "nope." He was not going to leave his train. He woke up from his nap and we didn't even get so much as a "hi". It was straight to the train for more hours of circle after circle.
Well we all know how cleaver those toy companies are. They include a mini-brochure of all the wonderful things you can get to go along with the one you have. Sam sat admiring it and that was all it took for his dad, the push-over.


The look...this is so dangerous. I know that look. I used to use that look on my parents. Why didn't it work like this?


Of course you can get them all! Super dad is here with his magic laptop and ebay.


Oooo! Somebody dared to out bid me. I'll show them.


Don't worry Sam, Daddy won't lose again. This one's mine!


Yes!


What was I thinking? One little train. Just one...yeah right. Anyone who's been at our house knows we are the classic collectors who can't just have one.

Why Have One When You Can Have Two?

James' First Swim

We thought we'd be brave and take both boys swimming for the first time. James did well. He lasted about a whole minute! The rest of our outting he enjoyed happily from the side of the pool wrapped up tightly in his towel.

Sometimes it's Hard to be Mom's Sidekick

I am so glad I take my camera everywhere I go. I couldn't pass up this photo opportunity. Sam was so cute when he nodded off in the cart today at the store. It's hard to keep up with mom!
Look at big man James loving all the attention!

Copy Cat

I have no problem being a copy cat. In fact alot of "my" best ideas and creations have come from being a pretty good one. I would hope that people would copy me too if they saw something they liked that I did. Here are two of my favorite ideas I have found lately. They both cost me nothing because I used things I already had.
I love creating new things. It makes me feel so happy inside.

Here's the original

Here's mine. I used Sam's watercolors and cut them up.

Here's the original

Here's mine. I used wood, scrapbook paper, and mod podge.

It's amazing what you can do with a good idea to get you started. You'd be amazing what you can do when you use things you already have around the house. I love no-cost design!
My next plan is to do some kind of a train since Sam's SO into trains right now. I will either pencil it out for him to watercolor in and then draw charcol around them and frame them as a border in his room, or do the paper and wood idea in a line as a train for his border. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Our Fun Weekend

We went to Ben and Joy's for dinner on Friday night. It was so fun. We had a yummy dinner of Joy's incredible ribs, homemade mashed potatoes, jello, corn, and salad. We ate until we were stuffed! Then we decided to make it a night out and got a babysitter.
Ben and Seth went to see Terminator and Joy and I went for a proper girls night out. We went and got pedicures! It was so nice. We couldn't remember the last time se got together and pampered ourselves like this.
Then we did what girls do best. We went shopping! I had saved up a little mad money so Joy went with me to find a cute new dress. I of course then had to get a bag and sandals to match. We had a blast. The night ended too soon.
Don't worry, the kids had a great time without us, thanks to Megan. James slept the whole time and Sam had a great time with Megan and his partner-in-crime, Haley.



We then got to go help Grandma M clean up her backyard on Saturday. We had fun being out in the sun. Here's a cute pic of my boys enjoying her great patio. I just love these boys. The one in the middle is especially cute! :)



We got to finish the weekend off with a fun dinner at our good friends, Don and Vickie's. My cousin Norah and her family were there too and it was a fun night filled with great food (my first time having Navajo Tacos and Buttermilk Syrup...yum yum!), cows, chickens, laughs, and great people. What a great weekend.