It's Daddy's Day

It's Daddy's Day and he is soaking it up (as he should). He of course woke up to a fun scavenger hunt for his presents followed by his favorite breakfast, egg in a hole. It was fun to see him have to go up and down the stairs following his clues.
The big "finale" present was hid behind the couch pillows in our front room and as soon as Seth walked in the room, Sam ripped the pillows off the couch and yelled, "SURPRISE!" It was so cute to see him get so into it and want his daddy to find his presents. He also gave him the best "Happy Father's Day" ever.
We sure love our Dad in this house and are so grateful for him. He does a good job and we hope we feels how much we love him...especially today!
(a Braves toothbrush from James)

(a Braves car sticker from Sam)

(a Braves shirt from Mom)

Coolest Pool-est Ever-est!

We had a great day on Friday. We love going to my sister's house to play with her and her kids. It's always a nice trip for me too, because I usually get to sneak away to the chiroprator and get all fixed up.
This Friday we went to her pool with her. It was SOOOOO fun. It is one of the best community pools I have ever been too. They have baby pools, pirate ships with little slides, squirters, and buckets to dump on you, a lazy river, a water slide, and a pool that is constant waves where you can surf.
The best part of all that was that my kids didn't really want anything to do with me. They just wanted to play and be with their cousins, so I just got to float around the lazy river and enjoy their laughter.
James has developed this super cute attachment to Josh. All last week he kept asking where Josh was and all Friday he just wanted to be with him. This was expecially a nice treat since he has been SUCH a momma's boy.

Summer Sleepovers

We had another sleepover with my sister and her kids. We love having them. The boys had a blast. We made up fun beds and popped popcorn. They thought that was pretty cool to all have their own bucket!
I just love love love these two little cuties!

Here's some shots from our last sleepover at their house when Seth was out of town. I am seeing a common theme. Megan, Haley, Movie, blankies, and treats. Yep, all the things you need to have a good time!

Buzz and Basketballs

Sam was never one to care what he wore. He would get excited about certain shirts, but that was about it.
James is another story.
A little over a month ago we were at Seth's parents house late and I didn't have their jammies to put them into before leaving. Well of course, Grandma M had some jammies for them. She had awesome dragon ones for Sam and Buzz Lightyear ones for James.
James thought he had died and gone to heaven! He was so excited. I thought it was so cute how excited it was....well, that cuteness has worn a little after a month of him being in the same shirt! :)
James loves that shirt with Buzz on it and wants to wear nothing else. He is getting a little better and I am now able to wash it every once in a while. We have to do a little therapy session every time, "Buzz is dirty." He then walks around the house repeating "Dirty Buzz."
If i am doing laundry, or even walk to that door, he comes running looking for Buzz to be reunited with him.
I have had a Primary meeting every week for the past month and the ladies now laugh and just ask James who is on his shirt. He of course loves this and gets shy and says proudly, "Buzz."

Well, we have now found something to rival Buzz. Grandma M (again) :) bought a pack of socks for Sam who had some pictures taken this last week. The navy pair in the pack I thought would be perfect for James for Sundays to go with his navy pants.
Little did I know that they had some balls on them. Oh no! :) He had to keep checking them all during church and showing off his "basketballs."
He would not take them off for anything and is currently sleeping with them on!


This little boy is so precious. We are so grateful for him and for how different he is from his brother.

We can't help but think.....what's the next one going to be like?!

Clean the House

So, after another usual, busy, exhausting Sunday, I look at Seth and said, "Do you want to go get the boy's jammies, or start picking up the house." Sam heard me and said, "Um, clean the house."
Well, Seth and I jumped on that and said, okay, start cleaning! It was so cute. He put shoes and bags away, picked up trash, put dishes in the sink, put toys away, and then informed me that the floor needed cleaning and pulled out the mop.
We were so proud! :)
It was his first time "cleaning" and we were plesantly surprized to see that not only could he do it, but he could do it well! I guess it's time to step in up in this household and make a chore chart (with rewards of course!)

Lagoon and Good Times

The Easter Bunny got us season passes to Lagoon and we are loving it! It is so fun to just head up there for a quick trip, or to make a day out of it.
The boys have gotten way into it and know all about the rides now. It is cute to hear Sam request his favorite ones and have James tell us "no" to the "baby" rides.
Between this, the pools, parks, and Aquarium, I think we are going to have a fun filled summer.
We aren't in school, so it's not like we just got out for our break, but there is just something so fun about summer. There is definitely a playful, adventurous feeling in the air....and we are grabbing hold of it!

Summer Has Finally Sprung

And we are trying to get every bit of it we can!

Single

Seth has left us for only the second time in our marriage. He had to go out of town for a family funeral. He left last night and won't be back until Sunday night. I know it's really not that long, but as one who LOVES having her husband around it is hard to think about.
Even though his sweet dad loaded me up with my favorite treats, Seth cleaned and did all he could before he left, I will still miss him.....I'm almost positive he will miss us too as he has a free and unscheduled time of sleeping in and doing whatever he wants whenever he wants! :)
As he was packing to leave we found a little stow away in his bag! :)

Making Lemons out of Lemonade

We had a back patio put in when we moved into our house. We just loved it...until our yard settled and left it uneven. Now every time it rains we end up with a huge puddle. It is so annoying.
But the boys have a different view on things. They think this is the best thing ever. Whenever I let them play in it it is like having chocolate cake for all 3 meals of the day.
I am thankful for kids and their ability to see the up side of everyting!

I just want to go to sleep!

Yesterday I was having such a nice morning with the boys. Playing outside, doing little projects, cleaning up...and then it hit me. I had a doctor's appointment! I can't believe I forgot! Most people can't wait for this appointment because they get to find out the gender of their little one growing inside of them, but since I decided not to find out it wasn't really on my mind.
So we raced to get ready, I had to drink all my water in time for my ultrasound, call Grandma M and make sure she could watch the kids....
I didn't want James to go to bed before we left so I kept ignoring him while we were getting everything ready.
When I was finally ready and looking for the boys to get them ready I couldn't find James. I asked Sam if he had seen him and he said he was upstairs, where I just was! I didn't believe him, but went up to look anyways.
Cute James was fast asleep in his bed with this blankie, wheezy, and panda. I guess he just figured if I wouldn't help him get to bed he would just do it himself! :)
Sweet kids. They are always teaching me something!

Pampered Chefs

Spring has sprung and so have our activities. It seems like we all start waking up from our long winter "sleep" and the fun times roll.
My boys and I have refound our love for baking. It has been fun, especially since I can justify it so easily with being pregnant and all!:)
Sam and James has learned the fine art of preparing, licking to their hearts content, eating warm goodies, and using as much frosting as possible! A mother couldn't be prouder!

(So I know these photos are almost exactly the same, but I love to notice the small differences between Sam and James. They are very telling of their personalities. As Sam takes a bite, gets excited, and runs around, James just admires, takes a bite, licks everything he can off his fingers, and then repeats!)

There is Beauty All Around...(at least a bit more now)

We got 2 trees for our backyard! and I love them. I am so excited about them. They make our backyard look so beautiful!
We had my sister and her kids dig the holes for us.

It was really hard to dig in our yard. It is about 95% rock and 5% clay! Water breaks were much needed.

Sam loves his Megan. They chased and played for hours. They loved running around the "obsticle course" the trees made.

While everyone was outside, Ethan enjoyed the quiet to really focus on his Army he was buliding.

It was fun to have them for the night. After the trees were in my sister, Joy and her husband Ben went home for a quiet night without kids.
Joy's kids are so great. We love having them. We played hard and worked hard. Sam and James just love their cousins. They were so excited when they woke up and they were still there.
Megan, Mitch, and Josh all took turns racing up and down our alley with the little ones in the wagon. They loved it. The "magic word" to get them started was always, "blastoff!"

Thanks Hutchins for all you do for us! :)

We also just had our front lawn redone after the failed experiment we took part in about a year and a half ago. We are back to regular sprinklers. I am glad, at least now I will know what to do if something goes wrong....hey, nothing lost and a lot gained. This is our third time on lawn now. We got more of the good stuff and it looks great!

YEAH ME!!!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. It was a fun and memorable one.
Saturday night I was feeling a little sad because Seth hadn't really talked about it so I just figured nothing special was up. Our neighbor was going to hide a bike he bought for his wife at our house, and that kind of made me sad. I thought, wow, all over men are doing things for their wives, but not at my house.
Then when we went out that night Seth said, "Do you generally like to know when I've got you something, or do you generally like to be surprised?" I was stunned. I told him it's nice to know that he's done something for me....and I felt like a pouty little girl! I can't believe I was so dumb to be sad inside and not think that my sweet husband wouldn't do something for me.
So Sunday morning he got up with the boys, like he usually does, and let me sleep in a bit. Well, as most of you who know me well, I did not sleep in long, knowing there was a surprise for me! :) I went downstairs to the cutest, "Happy Mother's Day" from Sam. It's the first time I've had my child say it to me. It really was precious. I will remember that little voice forever.
On the kitchen counter was an animated, talking Mr. Potato Head from Toy Story for me. He was very cute. I was excited. I love my Mr. Potato Heads and loved him. Sweet Seth had found him and of course thought of me.
I thought, wow, that was sweet. So, the morning continued and I took it slow. Then Seth said, "I wish we could read our scriptures together." I thought, wow, I just got up, give me a minute, at least let me eat....
So I started eating, James of course took my breakfast over, then Sam wanted to eat something different and then Seth placed his order...it was getting a little crazy and I was still hungry. Then as I am making Seth breakfast he again says, "Let's read scriptures." I'll admit I started to be really annoyed, and I let him know it. He then said, "you know, Karen, sometimes I say things, but it's not what I really mean."
It took me a second, but I got it. I said a big, "oh, do you mean there's something in there?" (we read our scriptures in our front room) I ran in there and saw the most amazing thing....new Mr. Potato Heads! :) They just came out with a new Buzz Lightyear and Woody for the new Toy Story 3 movie coming out. And he found a new princess I didn't have all the pieces too. I was so excited. It was fun to run around the front room and the dining room finding them and having Sam and James right with me loving that I got new toys. Sam said, "wow, it's so cool!"
Yes, son, your mother is so cool! :)


We then had a great day at church and then a fun dinner with Seth's parents.
It was a wonderful mother's day. I am glad I get to celebrate it now. My children are really the best part of me and I am so grateful for them!

Curling

We went Curling with Seth's hockey team. It was so fun. We love curling. We watched so much of it when the Olympics were on. We don't totally understand it, and we definitely didn't have a clue how hard it was.
We had a blast throwing the stones and sweeping. I never thought that curling was that hard or took a lot of skill, but it does, and sadly, I learned an even bigger lesson. It is hard to stay up on the ice! I fell HARDCORE! I was so embarrassed. I hate when I am the center of attention for something stupid! I of course tried to blow it off, but apparently my head hitting the ice echoed through the rink.
I stayed strong and held back the tears, but wasn't able to finish the game. I had a nasty headache, bump, and whiplash, that thankfully my chiropractor helped me take care of.
All in all it was a blast and definitely something Seth and I will look into doing down the road. Seth says it will be when I'm not pregnant, and definitely when I am wearing a helmet! :)

California...knows how to party!

We packed up the treats, Doritos, and yummy treats and...
We had an AMAZING family vacation to my home state of California! It was a much needed vacation and we made the most of it. The boys are at a great age to travel and sleep wherever so we took advantage of that and house hopped the whole time.
We started by staying with Tim and his family so we could spend a "pre-birthday" day with him and see his kids play baseball/softball. It was a blast and Sam and James loved being at the baseball games and running and playing around.
Sam is definitely at that stage where he is trying to understand the world around him and express what he sees. Taylor, Tim's oldest, was in the dug out with her team and Sam saw her and said, "Oh no! Taylor's stuck in the cage!" It was so cute! There was also a little black girl that was riding a little scooter around that Sam kept chasing. He kept calling her "sister". We don't know why, but it was cute to hear him chase her and say, "Hey, come back here sister!" :)


We then drove down to my parents to celebrate a late birthday with Logan, Mike's daughter. It was fun. Amy, Nate's wife, was there with her girls. Nate couldn't come, but we were glad to have some time with them. Lucy, their oldest, and Sam just fought and fought. They both had the attitude, of, hey, this is MY grandma's house. It was pretty funny, but I think that Sam got a little dramatized by it because he had nightmares the next night where he would cry, "No Lucy, that's mine."
Sunday we got to go to church with my parents and listen to my dad speak. He was just released from his 7 year service as an Area Authority 70. He said he had given over 1600 talks in those 7 years and I finally got to hear one! It was great. I love my parents so much and I am so glad for how they raised me and for the fact that I always knew where they stood and what they believed!
We headed up to Dave's for a dinner/party for Tim. It was fun. I love hanging at their house. They definitely have the model family and home that Seth and I strive for.
We then headed over to Jon's for 2 nights. It was fun to stay there again. We hadn't stayed with them since we were first married. When I called them to see if we could stay with them I heard the boys in the background chant, "We want Sam, we want Sam." When I told Jon to ask them if I could come with him I just heard a pause and then, "We want Seth, we want Seth!" So much love! :) It made me so happy that my family is loved so much! Sam and James had a blast there. Jon's boys are awesome and Sam and James had so much fun playing with them.





Monday we had a great day at Disneyland. We did the promotion Disney was offering of "Give a Day, Get a Day." It was awesome Seth and I were able to go bowling with some disabled people. We had a blast and got a free day at Disneyland for it. It didn't seem quite fair, but we took it and loved it. It was cute to see how in to it James was this time. When we went to Disney world last September we had a good time, but this time he really got it and it was cute. Sam and James were just into everything and I wish we wouldn't have tired out so quickly because there was hardly anyone there.

Tuesday morning we headed back to my parents for a day to just hang out and rest and to get some of Seth's favorite doughnuts! We took Sam and James in for the first time. We usually just have them stay in the car. When Sam walked in and say the display cases with the doughnuts he said, "Wow, it's so beautiful!" It was so cute. Like father, like son! :)

Wednesday we went to the Zoo compliments of Tressa, Dave's oldest. She worked at Sea World last year and for my birthday gave us tickets. We hadn't used them yet and we were so excited to go. I LOVE the Zoo, and so to the boys. We went first thing in the morning and the animals were great. We saw so much action. From polar bears eating carrots and playing in the water, to flamingos running and flapping their wings, to bears trying to get food out of bags and trees, to jaguars pouncing, to pandas wake and playing, to snakes slithering around there cages....it was so awesome. I felt so spoiled.

Wednesday night my parents with Clay and Logan's help watched Sam and James so that Seth and I could have a night out. We always seem to plan our vacations around the Brave's schedule! :) We went to a Padres/Brave's game and had a blast. It was so fun to go out and actually do something, not just running to a movie really quickly. The Brave's won which made it even sweeter! :)

Thursday we headed back to Dave's. We caught Braden's tennis match. That was fun. Then we just hung out with them and played games.
Sam and James LOVED all the time they had with cousins and would always ask if we were going to another cousin's house. It was fun. Sam had forgotten Bryce's (Dave's youngest) name and he was trying to figure out how to ask him his name, so he just pointed to him, looked at me and said, "Hey, what's that?" It was so cute. We all had a good laugh at that and his one track mindedness as he really wanted "cheese toast" (a grilled cheese sandwich) for dinner and only said that for about an hour no matter what you talked to him about or asked him about! :)
Friday we headed to St. George to stop over with some good friend's of ours and celebrate Dave's birthday. It was nice to stop and hang with them and break up our trip. And Saturday we finally got home. It was nice, but sad. It was such a great time that I didn't want it to end....