Pictures and Explanations

Kyler loves reading. His favorite books to read are Geronimo Stilton Books. He is excited every time we go to the library and begs for extra reading time before bed. His excitement is finally starting to rub off onto Kacin who loves reading his own just-right books.

Kacin is super excited for Kindergarten. We did some back to school shopping and got him a backpack. He didn't take it off for two days. And kept bombarding me with questions about kindergarten, when it will start, does he really get to go each day, etc. We have a month until the first day and he will be at a montessori school again.

Disgusting. We were eating some grapes at lunch the other day and pulled this grape off the bunch. Luckily I inspected it before popping it into my mouth. There was a crusty, old bug stuck to it. (Thank you, Eric. I do wash my grapes. However, I do not soak them or power wash them. This one was stuck to another grape in the bunch and that bug was well stuck. The boys and I were just excited that we could take a cool picture of it. So yah.)

We visited a petting farm last week. Kyler's favorite time was spent with this goat. I guess it gets bullied by the other goats and they won't usually let him eat with them. Kyler spent a lot of time with one of the volunteers helping to feed and protect it.

It's hard to read from the pictures, but the sign says "Welcome Home Dad." We survived another week of Eric traveling. We weren't happy about him going (Kyler cried during church the morning E left), but we tried to be supportive and held up just fine. There was just one incident that left me perfectly frightened for sleeping by myself--I closed my door when I went to bed at night and woke up to the sound of the doorknob turning and the door opening. I thought it was just Kacin. But no. Nothing there. The only logical explanation at 3am was a ghost. I didn't sleep so well the rest of the night. (The logical explanation in the morning was the window fans turning on and off because of their automatic setting. That's what I'm telling myself anyways. . . )

We are all just very glad he is back home hiking, wrestling, and baking rolls with us.

They were supposed to be pulling weeds in the garden. Which they did. But they also managed to cover eachother in the dirt and weeds. You can see the stuff they poured on eachother in the second and third pictures. Oh, boys.

We've been trying some different forms of art this summer. A lot of them are things I learned in one of my college courses (I just loved studying early childhood education). This art project consisted of watered down tempera paint and a little rubbing alcohol in spray bottles and lots of paper. We had such a fun time getting messy and experimenting with colors.

With Scissors and Glue

Each month we read all the stories from the new Friend magazine
and then drop the magazine into my church bag
to color in and peruse during Sacrament meeting.
I finally got tired of the stack of mags filling my already full bag.
But sometimes I feel guilty about silly things

and one of those silly things was tossing the magazines in the recycling.
So my solution,
(which I'm sure has been done by many before me but I still think it's brilliant)
was to transform them into
books.
The boys and I have been cutting pictures and words out of the magazines
and creating mini-collages on 4X6 index cards.
The pages are a mixture of pictures, quotes, or phrases.

We tried to give each page a different topic.
Kacin was a little stuck on the topic "things that make me happy".

one of Kacin's pages on left, one of Kyler's pages on right

Then we put them into mini-cheapo-photo albums
and voila!

We have two simple, any-age, take anywhere, uplifting books.

I love that we can take out, add, or move around the pages as needed
and the boys are so proud of the pages they made.
I hope they stay this excited about it and the books get used often. 

Sweetness

Kyler sewed himself a little pillow
for his Teddy Bear.

Eric's playing on a softball team with his work--
the High Fives.
Last night was the first time we were able to go see him play.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Especially the part where the boys were heckling E
with love.
Everytime he was up to bat or waiting in the dugout
they were shouting from the bleachers
"I love you, dad!"
"Don't get out, ok, dad?"
"Dad, why are you last?"
I think Eric especially loved it when
his oldest son was blowing him kisses
and then asked for a kiss through the fence.

We saw part of a gymnastics meet on tv.
There was a closeup of a girl's shoulders and head
as she prepared for her floor routinue.
Kyler said,  "Wow! I like her hair and the sparkles on her shirt.
She's soooo beautiful."
He quickly added, "Don't worry, she's not as beautiful as you, Mom."

Kacin was so proud that he was able to write the number forty:
4D

Blankets and Chairs

Built a fort.

For hiding, playing, and candy parties.
Music is blaring.
"Don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart."
Kyler sings along.
Oh dear.
Sweet sundays.

It's Been Started

I was trying to think of a good word
to describe how I'm feeling today,
but just a glimpse around my house would explain it.
I started laundrey.
I started pitting and freezing cherries.
I started making my bed.
I started cleaning the bathrooms.
I started putting girls camp gear away.
I started doing the dishes.
But I have not finished even one thing.
(except that bowl of oreo ice cream.)
They are literally all half done and scattered around my house.
This pattern has to be broken.
And so now I finish something.
The End.

Moments

Yesterday meant
26 years.
That number has always sounded
so old.
Maybe it still does.
26 happy moments from the day . . .

1. instead of waking up to Eric listening to talk radio, awaking to a kiss from Eric and birthday wishes
2. emerging from my room and finding the birthday fairy left me messages down the stairs

3. after family scriptures, cuddling with my boys on the couch
4. during cuddling, Kacin gave me 26 taps on my nose
5. Kyler counted out 26 freckles on my arms
6. Kyler sang me a song from the primary songbook: Mother Dear (currently, his favorite primary song!)
7. Kacin sang me a song he made up as he went: something about a stinky family and toots
8. checking things off of our celebration list: 26 Things To Do 26 Times, including 26 decorations on the wall, 26 different types (or colors) of candy, 26 songs to dance to, 26 pages read in a book, etc. It was the best list Stef and I have ever created

9. going on a 26 min. bike ride through the neighborhood
10. after Kacin, while riding his bike, crashed hard into the back of a parked van and walked away with 2 scraped knees, he asked, between tears, for 26 min. of cuddles when we got home
11. Kyler excited and full of plans to make me a "princess" cake and throw me a "princess" party
12. looking out the window at Eric watering the garden with two pink party hats as horns

13. a pleasant afternoon at country village with friends playing at the park and going on a train ride


14. Eric came home from work early
15. lots of kind birthday wishes on facebook and text messages
16. Stef got us pizza for dinner and swept the floor

17. Eric on the slip-n-slide. Splash!

18. Jenga stacked 26 high

19. 26 spins of Twister

20. 26 candles on the birthday cake, decorated solely by the boys

21. the candy game. 26 cubes in the bucket. you land it in, you get candy, you don't, me the birthday girl gets candy.

22. jumping on the trampoline together, 26 times, everyone laughing and happy
23. lots of hugs, something like 26, including one big sandwich hug

24. my mom sent me one of my grandma's dresses with my birthday present. A nice little mexican number. i wore it.

25. phone calls from family and friends
26. reading poetry together before tucking the boys into bed. making Eric read a love poem to me. ha ha.   

26 years.
Life is good.
With moments like these,
I couldn't be happier.

Berry Picking

It was a day in the fields and at the farm,
gathering strawberries,
watching pigs, goats, and sheep,
and playing in the hay maze.