Kate Update

Fall is HERE! I made a Pumpkin! J is really proud of me, he said I should make 3- three is his favorite number.

So, I've had lots on my mind recently, and it ALL went away when I sat down to write this post! WOW. So....let me think....I can only think of one main update about me- so I will share that.

I have made some changes in my daily schedule this past week. I think it worked pretty well, but it is going to take some time to get used to- i.e. I hope I can talk myself into going to bed on time so that I am not so tired.

I decided that I wanted to make sure I had my priorities straight. The most important part of my day, in my opinion, is taking care of my boys, spending time with them, teaching them and LOVING them. But I felt like I wasn't doing so well at that. Between cleaning, exercising and being social (on the network) there just wasn't a ton of time to color and read and play with blocks. At our stake conference this last weekend one of the speakers told of her sisters experience with changing around her daily priorities. She was like me and wanted to make more time in her day- and what was the biggest time sucker? The Internet of course. If she was like me then she would probably go to the computer to check one thing, then check something else, then remember something she wanted to look up, and so on and so forth. So her Sister kept her computer turned off, she kept a list of the things she needed to look at and search for on the web and for an hour a day- during nap-time or something like that- she would do her searches.

I wrote that idea down, and on Sunday afternoon I thought about the things I wanted to accomplish everyday. I wanted to spend good quality time with my boys, get my cleaning done, I wanted to exercise and I wanted to have a specific time I would work my business. I realized that I was going to have to wake up early to do the cleaning and exercising, and that would free up the time during the boys waking hours for me to spend specifically with them.

So I have tried to wake up at 5:20, when Ken wakes up. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I exercise first thing in the morning for an hour. Then I clean the room I've picked for that day. They boys will probably wake up during that cleaning hour. Then Breakfast, 30 minutes of computer time, Preschool, reading with B, Nap-time for B and Premier Designs time for me. J comes back from Preschool and we have lunch then coloring, puzzles, games, then Nap-time for J and B and 30 more minutes of computer time for me (sometimes the computer comes out earlier, when I have a specific purpose- like writing a blog post, or while I am working on Premier Designs stuff) I have found that I am quite tired by nap time and I often fall asleep myself. Then Ken comes home and I make dinner and we enjoy family time. Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little different because I don't have enough time to run before Ken leaves in the morning- so I clean starting at 5:20 and then the boys and I go running at 7 or so, sadly I had to wake B up to do this, but it worked really well. I have even managed to get dressed by 9 AM on most days! (psst, that getting dressed by 9 thing, pretty amazing feat if you ask me!)

I can say that Monday- Thursday this week worked pretty well. I couldn't get up this morning though. I was just too tired. Probably because instead of going to bed at 10 PM like my schedule told me too, I got to bed between 10:30 and 11. I know I need 7 1/2 hours of sleep at night and I am going to have to force myself to bed so that I don't have to force myself out of bed when I am too sleepy.

I am sure it is going to take a few weeks to really get into the grove and figure out what works best, I might need to change my cleaning schedule around, for example, J woke up really early on Tuesday, when I was cleaning the living room, which happens to be right outside his bedroom door- I'm thinking of switching and cleaning the basement family room on Tuesday and the Living Room on Wednesday, in the hopes that J will sleep at least until 7. A mom can hope!

Well, B is up from his first nap, and it is time for lunch then building towers with blocks! YES!

Too Busy

Earlier this week J was helping Ken take out the trash and the recycling. They took the long walk up to the recycling dumpster and then came back for the regular trash. Ken couldn't get J to come inside the house. In fact J laid down on the front grass at this point. Ken told him he needed to come inside and help him gather up all the trash from the different rooms. J said "Me Too Busy", now that's my kind of busy.

What a boy- busy watching the clouds go by- that is exactly the kind of childhood I want him to remember. We love this boy!

Bear Lake

When J was about 3 months old he and I went to Bear Lake with 15 or so members of my family. We rented a really nice cabin. J didn't care how nice it was, he only cared that there were 9 kids there and it was LOUD and he hated it. I spent a lot of time in the bed room or outside where it wasn't so loud. Fast forward 3 years and we all went up to Bear Lake again. This time Ken came with us. There are a few more kids in the family now- It was just as loud but this time J loved it, B thought it was pretty fun too.  Here are some snapshot moments form our trip.

B enjoying some home made pizza for lunch, I am 99% sure that this is the oldest highchair he will ever sit it.

The most beautiful pizza I have ever made. It was a vegetable and chicken pizza. ( I made and froze the crusts at home a week or two before the trip, then we just topped them, cooked them and ENJOYED them)

We drove up to Paris! That's right I've been to Paris! Paris Idaho! A few miles outside of Paris (20 min driving 15 mph on really rocky bumpy roads) there is something called an Ice Cave. Basically it is a cave/giant chasm in the ground that is positioned just right- snow falls into the chasm during the winter and then sun never reaches parts of the cave/hole during the spring, summer and fall, so there is constantly a little mound of snowy ice. When we got there J immediately too off running, in the wrong direction- can you blame him, I mean his cool cousins were out there standing on the edge of a big chasm, it had to be safe right? They would never do anything dangerous!

We collected J and found the actual cave entrance. It was very cold in there, you could see your breath. I am glad I brought the sling for B, he was pretty glad too. I didn't do any spelunking, I just stayed on the path and didn't go too far into the cave. Can you see the ghost in the picture? I have watched enough ghost hunter shows to know that that little round blob in the picture is a ghost! FUN! 

As soon as we got into the cave and found the ice, J immediately ran onto the little mini glacier.

good thing we have the ability to zoom the camera- here is J- having WAY to much fun standing on the ice, he is also way too cute not to share the picture.

J actually slipped on the ice not too long after we took those first pictures, Ken had to go save him. But J, being a typical 3 year old, got over it pretty fast and continued to have fun exploring.

It was pretty cold in there and when I saw one of my nephews walk into the cave with a blanket, I didn't waste a moment and asked for it. B was happy to have it. I really should have thought to bring a hat!

I eventually left the cave. J on the other hand made Ken follow him around and take pictures of him standing next too or on every rock possible.

Yep, the Ice Cave was pretty fun and FREE!

Sliding on dirty snow ice can really make your bum dirty!

We are very smart people and since we had a fully equipped cabin we figured we would save some money and so a lot of eating in. But on the night we arrived (which was a Thursday) we decided that we would go out for dinner, after-all, there are LOTS of little hamburger places and we could get SHAKES- Raspberry Shakes to be exact. Well, Ken and I drove through Evanston on our way to Bear Lake- which meant that we drove through Garden City before we got to the Cabin, and we discovered that, even though it was only 6pm, there were only 3 restaurants open! No Hamburger places! A Mexican Restaurant, A Pizza Shop and a Steakhouse. Ha! Well the Pizza Place served shakes so we went there, even though we were going to have pizza again on Friday and Saturday.

We noticed, while driving through Garden City again on Friday as we were headed to Paris, that the place I lovingly refer to as "the shake shop" was open. (I just googled it- it's called "Quick n' Tasty") so after we finished up at the cave we drove as fast as legally possible back to the shake shop and enjoyed WAY TOO MANY SHAKES. B proved himself to be the perfect little bird- he discovered that if you look cute, open your mouth and grunt a little, EVERYONE will put spoons full of ice cream into your mouth. 

J's favorite part of the cabin- The Sand Box! 

We had lots of fun. It was loud, and they boys slept in our room- which isn't all that relaxing- but I have an idea for the next time we rent the cabin- All the kids sleep in the basement! We put them down there after dinner and lock the door- then we unlock the door in the morning! It's the perfect plan really. We had a great time.

Firsts

A first for me, growing spaghetti squash. I planted it months ago and I put some bamboo posts next to it thinking, "Maybe it will climb?" Well it didn't climb up the posts, but it did climb up my window. See my two cute little spaghetti squashes, they don't know how to do anything but GROW! I need to Google and see how to tell when they are ready to pick!

Now a first for my J- Preschool! J has been excited to go to school since I told him about it a few weeks ago. His initial reaction was "Me ride the School BUS!" and after a few attempts to let him know that preschoolers typically don't get to ride the school bus I decided to make him a school bus (thanks Miss Leanne for the idea). So the week before school started J and I went to the craft store and got some yellow poster-board, then we returned home and I crafted this beautiful bus!

And J drove his bus to orientation, and then he drove it again on the first day of school. He didn't have to drive far, the Little Thinkers Preschool is across the street and 8 doors down from us.

The boys and I were out running the morning of the first day of school and two school buses passed us. J yelled out to the first one "I love you School Bus! I see you later!"

Here he is, my sweet little J and his teacher, Miss Leanne. I am amazed at how much fun he is having, how much more confident he seems (especially since he was already an amazingly confident little boy) and how much he is learning each day.

J is at preschool right now, today was his day to bring the letter bag- his letter was B and we went around the house finding things that started with B. He is sharing some toys a Bear, his Baby Bird, and a Ball. He also chose a Book a can of Black Beans (alliteration, I was quite proud of that one) and a picture of his Baby Brother B. There were even a couple of other things he found this morning that we added to the bag. Since Monday we have been talking about all the B things around us, it is so cute to hear him say "Bag, Buh Buh Buh BAG!" or "Building, Buh Buh Buh Building!" I really love how he practices the sound.

Thanks Grandma Turner for helping out so J can go to Preschool, we love it!

A Date for Mommy and J

Last Friday J and I had a Date. This is the second Mommy J date we have had in a couple of weeks and J seems to LOVE them, and to tell you the truth, I love them too. This time we went to the Movies! 

 It was J's 2nd time at a movie theater- we took him to a movie when he was about 18 months old, basically because we were on vacation and all the kids were going....but he was NOT READY for theaters. This time he did great! We saw Winnie the Pooh at the dollar theater. Ken and I figured if the movie didn't work out (i.e. J freaked out) we had only wasted two dollars. But like I said, he did great, He even gave our tickets to the ticket taker guy. 

 I told J that he could pick where we sat, he ran to the front row and sat right down.......we then had a conversation about how the front row looks appealing but it is really not all that fun once the movie starts......after which, J decided that he wanted to sit on the second to last row.

During the premovie show and the previews J danced in the aisle. He got DOWN! When he needs to dance there truly is no stopping him, and I think it was a good thing, it got lots of energy out. He was able to sit in his seat and watch about 75% of the movie, the other 25% was spent laying on the floor, moving from his seat to the one next to it and back, and begging me for more candy. I guess it was also good that the movie was only about an hour long.

 So, we spent $2 at the movies and then we went to Baskin Robbins and got Ice Cream for FREE! Well not really for free, last Christmas my Manager and Director at the hospital gave me $20 in Star Bucks- which are giant fake money that is good for use at Intermountain Healthcare Cafeterias or Salt Lake area Baskin Robbins- Rock On!

 I let J choose his own flavor. He wanted something green. After sampling a few green flavors, and he chose Daiquiri Ice, which I remember liking as a child BUT I really didn't like it that day when I tried it. I had Lemon Sorbet- which was quite refreshing.

My J is quite silly. He wanted only a sugar cone, but then he wanted to eat his ice cream with the little tiny taster spoon.

 You have to admit, he was very cute while using his little tiny spoon.

Once all the ice cream was gone he chowed down on the sugar cone, and who wouldn't, I mean, it's made from SUGAR right?

Ride'em Cowboy!

We went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point this week. We didn't get a Membership this year and so we haven't gone and done ANYTHING FUN! That is until August and it's famed 2 Buck Tuesdays! I hadn't planned very well it got to be the last Monday of the Month and I was planning on taking the boys over to the Farm the next day. Luckily Cousin Anna and her Mom Melissa were also planning the same thing- so we had friends- even more luckily- we had friends with a camera. 

J has been talking about the "Merry Go Round" at Thanksgiving Point for a few weeks. He has a good memory, it has been way more than a year since we've been to Farm Country- but I guess the opportunity to ride live horses is something that a three year old boy just can't forget. 

Here is what J looked like the very first time I let him ride the horses at Farm Country. This the end of May 2009- so he would have been 14 months old. (On a funny little side note- Baby B is wearing this same outfit today- WEIRD!) 

And here is what my sweet little J looked like on Tuesday- 2 years and 2 months later, he is 3 years and 4 months old and he rode that little horse like a PRO!

I think we might need to get a membership next year.