"American Day"

Hope was very excited about the 4th of July this year, only she called "American Day." For a few days before, any time we were driving she would always point out the flags and other decorations that people had in their yards and ask why we didn't have any. That is right. I do not have any 4th of July decorations. Her excitement for the holiday of which we had no plans and no decorations made me feel like one heck of a disappointment to my children. The night before the 4th Hope got so excited that as she lay in bed she told me all the things she had planned for the following day. She said she was going to make everyone a flag. True to her word, she woke up early and immediately wanted to draw.

She did make one for everyone. I guess all those afternoons "singing to the flag" in kindergarten paid off, cause that an awesome one. I am very impressed with her stars. I still can't draw a decent one.

Out of the blue, Ben decided that we should go up to the West Bountiful parade. I don't like parades. I don't think I ever have. Once in my early 20's I got pegged in the forehead by an overzealous candy thrower and that pretty much sealed the deal. I mean, that tootsie roll could've put my eye out! Anyway.
Hope insisted that she have an "American shirt" for the "American Day." So here she is looking festive in her American Day attire, and Eden in her pigtails that lasted only about an hour.

 Turns out that West Bountiful throws a decent parade with zero overzealous candy throwers. Actually, I do think there was one, but he missed me and narrowly missed Whitney who was standing behind me so I'm okay with that. :)

There were horses that had been painted like the flag and some that had stars painted on their rear (buttock?) that Hope said looked like a cutie mark, which is the little symbol on a My Little Pony. They got lots of taffy and a few of those dangerous tootsie rolls and then we went back to grandma Verla's house for lunch. We spent a few hours visiting with her and aunt Whitney and Hope gave me a preview of her teenage years with this...

 playing on aunt Whitney's phone.

That evening the girls finally got to do sparklers and Pop-Its. They were concerned about holding a stick that was on fire, but soon got the hang of it and we went through a few boxes of them.

 The people in our neighborhood put on some pretty amazing firework shows. There were fireworks on the streets in front of us and behind us. We couldn't decide which way to turn our heads. Being surrounded by fireworks is pretty cool (and a little scary given that it had been so dry prior to the 4th). After watching outside and being eaten by bugs we moved into the back bedroom to watch for a while more. It was nice sitting in the quiet dark with my little ladies and their daddy watching fireworks that were so close.
What I thought would be a disappointing American Day actually turned out quite wonderful. The only time I saw disappointment in my girls' faces was when they were told they had to go to bed. If Noah would've been here I dare say it would have been perfect a American Day.

"The Forest"

The kids and I have a new favorite place. The kids call it "the forest" or "the duck pond". It has both...AND a playground. It's like heaven on earth, kid-size.

This was our trip there last week.

This was right before Hope accidentally stepped in the stream.

This is immediately after.

She was disturbed at first, but Noah and I kept laughing and she eventually got over it. Thank goodness cause she could have thrown one heck of a fit.

Further up the Provo River Trail we found another park. Eden decided she was too tired to go on so Noah carried her for a minute. What a studly little man.

This week we went again, and Eden was being especially funny. She wanted to bring her back pack so that she and Noah could play "ghosts" (Luigi's Mansion) a game they've been playing around the house all week. I knew she had some toys in there, but I didn't really bother to check exactly what she had. She surprised me when I turned to see her grab juice from her back pack, chug it and put it back in, just like a professional backpacker. She came prepared, which is more than I can say for the rest of us.

Eden was very happy to be on this adventure. She kept grabbing leaves while jabbering about making a cake. Then she would pick up sticks and wave them around while singing her made-up songs. She kept up with big brother and sister but took one wrong turn and fell in some really thick mud by the stream. As it was happening, scenes of the Swamp of Sadness in The Never-Ending Story flashed through my head. Remember when Atreyu makes really dramatic facial expressions while he is trudging through the swamp?

Unfortunately, my attempt to document the moment didn't do it justice. I had thought about snapping a picture before picking her up out of the muck, but then a 22 year old version of her little voice interrupted that thought with a "MOM, how could you?" She was not happy about the mud and whined about having to go home and take a bath. After scraping most of the mud off she was good to go and eventually found a little spot to clean off her shoes in the water. But then of course she didn't want to wear them because she said, "there water in nem."

So from then on she went barefoot. Like this.

She didn't get to follow Hope and Noah in the wooded areas, she had to stay on the grass, but she didn't seem to mind.

 Her hair is getting longer and she is growing up so fast.

I took what I thought were some really good shots. I was so excited thinking about how cute they were going to turn out and was even considering framing a few. Then I got home and realized that most of the ones I was so excited about turned out incredibly blurry.

 

I think they were playing the hobbit. See below where Noah is thoughtfully touching his chin.

Hope said several times that she was sure she could climb this tree. She didn't get very far, but seemed satisfied with the distance she did make.



 

After exploring we unloaded Eden and Hope's bikes from the van and rode up the Provo River Trail for a little bit. 

Noah thought Eden was quite funny on her little tricycle cause her little legs would pedal so fast and she would hunker down like she was really flying. 

 

She must've been working hard cause she got thirsty and had to pull over to get into her well-packed bag.

 

I got such a kick out of watching her with that bag. Getting out her drink and then, zipping up her bag, just as though she had been hiking and adventuring for years. Finally she decided to drink and drive. She almost caused several accidents on the trail....seriously. You can't tell by the photo, but she is moving while she is chugging that apple juice. Dangerous stuff.

She also had a mini magnifying glass in her backpack that she pulled out and kept stopping to check out bugs on the pavement. Then she held it up to her eye like a monocle and looked all around her while she was driving....another hazard. Several more accidents avoided. Her first lessons in distracted driving. 

 

We decided to make this place a weekly outing. Next time I think we'll follow Eden's lead and bring some water bottles for everyone - and some water shoes for the Swamp of Sadness.

Spring Adventures

During Spring Break, which was several weeks ago, the kids and I went on an "adventure" along the Provo River Trail. The kids thought it was really cool and we saw several snakes, ducks and turtles. We heard a lot of frogs although they were better at hiding. Walking along the trail reminded me of all the adventures that Brian and I had growing up and made me feel sorry that the world has gotten in such a state that my kids won't be able to have those adventures. It's just too scary to let them go wandering around on their own nowadays. I guess I will have to find my inner adventurer so I can with them cause I just can't imagine childhood without this kind of stuff.

 

 

 

I love this picture of Eden. She looks like a little model.

 

 

In this picture Noah is trying to get up a small hill but it's covered with little rocks and loose dirt.

I was surprised at how jumpy Noah was. Every little sound and bug made him jump. He needs a little more nature in his life, I think. Noah was usually the first to point out the snakes (by screaming of course), but forget about him trying to catch one. I tried to catch one to show him not to be afraid of them, they were just garden snakes, but it was too fast for me and he still didn't want to get too close.

 

 

As we walked along I pointed out all the places that Brian and I likely would've attempted a fort to Noah. He likes hearing all those stories.

We all agreed that this place would be a regular for our summer adventures.

 

Yesterday daddy took the day off and we went to the zoo after Hope got out of school. Sadly, Noah was not here this weekend, but we got a pass for the zoo so he'll get to experience it plenty.

 

 

Isn't this picture awesome?

 

 

These little ladies are quite spoiled. We never have an outing, no matter how small or location, in which there isn't begging, bargaining, tears, tantrums, and Miss Chevious running around like a wild child. In those moments I realize that my children are just like those children that I witnessed before parenthood and said, "My kids will NOT be that spoiled." I fear we have done them a great in justice by spoiling them so. They don't really know how to appreciate the many many MANY blessings they have. I need to do something about this. I'm just not sure what yet.

 

 

 

 

 

From the second Hope heard we were going to the zoo she started begging for a stuffed animal. She has SO many stuffed animals already. Last year Grandma Bosley bought her a stuffed animal snake form the zoo and she insisted that Rattle, the name of the aforementioned snake, needed a baby.

The begging, bargaining, tantrums and tears followed us around all day. We threatened her, asked nicely, reasoned with her....but in the end gave in. This is the problem with the spoiled behavior. We give in.

Oh, did I mention that Eden named her snake after our new backyard neighbor? 

An Afternoon in the Canyon

I'm a pretty spontaneous person. It's in my nature to just do something instead of planning things out. I've always been that way. Then I had children. It isn't exactly easy or comfortable, let alone enjoyable to do spontaneous things when you have infants. For me, there was far too much planning, packing and interruptions to bother with it. Now my children are a little older and I am finding that spontaneous is something that I can consider once again. Not completely mind you, I still have a two year old. But since she is starting to refuse naps, now is a good time to reintroduce the thought of casual outings.

I've been wanting to check out the Deer Creek beaches since before summer started, so yesterday was the day. I packed up the kids in the van, grabbed a treat for the road and away we went. There is a fee for the beach, but since we just wanted to check it out the lady gave us a 20 minute waiver.

I was disappointed at how rocky it was, but the kids actually quite enjoyed the rocks.

I finally had to pick Eden up to get her away from the rocks.

It was a great day for exploring. It was warm but not hot and there were enough clouds in the sky to give an occasional break from the sun.

When our pass expired we weren't ready to go home, so we decided to stop at Bridal Veil Falls for more adventuring.

We had lots of fun getting dirty and wet in the stream and of course playing with more rocks.

Noah found a stick and a flat-ish rock and tried to make a Tomahawk. When he was done with the rock Hope decided it was pretty special and wanted to bring it home for her rock collection.

On the way back down the trail Noah spotted a snake off to the side and caused all the people behind to stop and watch the snake as it slithered away. At one point Eden layed down on the trail to play with rocks. I tried getting a picture but by the time it was ready she had sat up.

It was a fun day and one we'll try to recreate soon.



Miss Chevious Moments Episode 2

Ben took the day off yesterday (5/07/12) to celebrate our 6th anniversary. We went up to Sugar House to the Original Pancake House, a place we used to frequent while dating. It was no surprise to me or Ben that Miss Chevious did not sit still longer than about three minutes. She was climbing under the table running up to the front of the restaurant, where the hostess empathetically said, "You've got a track star on your hands." I just smiled politely and after grabbing the little monkey headed back to my table...but I would soon be visiting the hostess again thanks to our "track star." She also shoved the flatware into the cracks of the stone fireplace that was right next to us. She did this after being told not to bang them on the table. She insisted on continuously picking up and putting down her chocolate milk which resulted in several small spills, even though it was covered with a lid. She took all the sugar packets out of the little dish and after playing with them calmly for about 30 seconds, she rapidly swished her arms back and forth across the pile flinging the sugar packets everywhere. While I was trying to gather them up, she grabbed a few that I hadn't reached yet and started squishing them in her hands. As we were about to leave I dipped her pacifier in the water that the server accidentally filled my sprite glass with and stuck it in her mouth. After a suck or two she smiled, took the pacifier out of her mouth and dipped it in the glass. She did this a couple times. Then she just dropped it in and pushed it under the ice.

Next we went shopping for "creature-free" bed sheets for Hope (refer to the earlier Say What? post). Putting Eden in a shopping cart is quite difficult.  It is in fact, a nightmare. She fights, kicks, cries and screams bloody murder. She is one of those children that you have to look at because it sounds like she's being abducted or beaten. I have no doubts that she can be heard in the furthest corner of the store. She screamed and tried to escape just about the entire time until daddy couldn't stand it any longer and got her out. We went to a couple of stores and in the ones that didn't have shopping carts Miss Chevious would run as far as she could looking back at me and laughing the whole time. Finally, I just tried to hold her, but she pushed and dug her knee into my ribs and wiped her messy cookie face all over my shirt. I didn't even care about the mess all over my shirt...I was exhausted and let's face it, after running back and forth after Miss Chevious several times, I had little pride left.

5/08/2012

Today Hope wanted to draw a footprint with the colored pencils so she sat at the table for a while to draw. Eden got a hold of the pencils after a while and found the one pen that I didn't know was in there and scribbled all over her arm and then came to laundry room where I was folding clothes to show me her art work.

Then she mashed up a banana on the family room floor. Yuck.

5/10/2012

There have been too many incidents to keep track of...this may not have been a good idea. I'm exhausted.

We started the day with Eden having a messy diaper and playing with it in her crib. Straight into the bath! Then she crumbled up a perfectly good hash brown and threw it all over the car.

So this week's episode was kind of a bust. Sorry. But just because I failed to document it don't think that there weren't many many, MANY Miss Chevious moments. I'll try harder next week. But before I go here's something special to think about: While Ben was standing in line at Einstein's Bagels and older lady in front of him got her order and turned towards the door to leave. Eden promptly begins singing "Go Away Scary Witch, Go Away!" and follows her to the door. I'm glad I wasn't there for that one. How embarrassing.

Now you don't need to wonder why my dining room chairs are always put up in my pictures. THIS is why. You can't see it but in the background there was one chair down that she used as climbing device.

Last Week

One day last week I decided to take the girls for a walk even though the "weather man" said it was supposed to storm. We were prepared with umbrellas though. Hope was fascinated with hers and wanted to keep it open but had a hard time keeping it still in the wind.

Eden's favorite song as of late is "Rain, Rain, Go Away!" She sings it quite well and loves to sing it even if the sun is shining.

We decided to go to the old park since it wasn't too cold.

On Saturday Hope went to a princess birthday party. She doesn't have any dress up princess clothes and she needed a new dress so I took Hope to JC Penney and we tried on dresses. This is the first time that she has actually had to try anything on because she is growing so fast! I had mini visions of her trying on her prom dress and her wedding dress and I almost got teary-eyed. :) She looked so beautiful in all the dresses, but this was her favorite.

We found the tiara at a party store and I made a dress up necklace cause every princess needs fancy jewelry. I tried to fix her hair fancy but she FREAKED OUT. I mean sobbing, hysterical freaking out. The girl does not like her "hair did." Here are some pics while she is still upset.

Still cute, but I prefer a happy princess and a little sister that doesn't look drunk. :)

Perfect.