LEHI ROUNDUP..........

Rodeos......cotton candy, whinnying horses, a sea of cowboy hats, loud country music, the smell of dirt and hamburgers cooking, screaming fans, crazy clowns with bad jokes, bucking broncs, and tiger's blood snow cones! What better way to spend a family night than at the Lehi Roundup!!

There was barrel racing, team roping, bull riding, an old fashioned wagon race, and even dare devil motorcross jumping at intermission.

HAIL MARY!

Saturday June 5th. It had been quite cloudy and drizzly all day. At around 7 pm the winds picked up, thunder was crashing and within in a few minutes we had hail. These are the largest hail stones I've seen in Utah. They were the size of a quarter and quite heavy. Colorado was hit by the same storm, but their hail were the size of soft balls. Logan loved it and took his turn running out into the yard to experience it. He was quite surprised at how hard they knocked him in the head. Silas never ventured out, he was quite content to stand under the porch. When I went out with Logan a second time Silas came undone and started sobbing. He kept saying, "Peas come in mama, come in, you get owie." He was very upset, silly kid.

A LITTLE VISITOR.......

Jason came inside from working on the deck today and grabbed me by the hand and said, "I have to show you something." He took me downstairs to the window well in the family room to show me this:
Jason said it was a mouse but at second glance, it was definitely not a mouse. What it is exactly?
Silas said, "Aaaww it's a beeby skwool mom. Hi beeby skwool. I hode you. I hode him mama, peas."


Logan said, "It's kinda a baby mouse and kinda a squirrel. What is it mom?" We are undecided. Maybe a mole, or a prarie dog, who knows. It was sure cute though. Jason caught him in a mason jar and took the boys with him across the road to release him in the field. Silas cried and cried when we let him go. "I keep him peas mama. I so sad. Bye-bye beeby skwool. Wool he be happy now he's wif he's mama?"

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS..............

I'm on the computer and Logan walks up to me. "Mom you forgot to lock the pantry. Will you please come and lock it before I want to get into the treats and then get in trouble." I laughed out loud then I grabbed him and gave him a big hug and a kiss! What a funny kid.

We were outside one evening and a storm starting rolling in across the sky. Logan says, "Mom why did it go dark all of a sudden." I said, "Because it got cloudy." Silas pipes up, "Wif meetbaws Mom, cowdy wif meetbaws?" Crack me up!!

Silas saw a picture of his cousin Cohen and he said, "Mom dats mines best fwend Coco! I luv Coco."

Logan and Silas were eating popsicles outside. I walked up to Silas and I said, "Siley, how's that popsicle. He said, "Me not Si, me baby Iyon Maaan!".... Okay baby Iron Man!

We were outside playing in the sprinklers and Silas became cold and said, "Mom I hode you." I picked him up and he said, "Mom yo shote es soapen wet. What yew bin doin? You code too, put me down."

BEING REMEMBERED.......

Today has been one of THOSE days. I'm sure you understand, can empathize and have been THERE yourself. There seems to be a million things to do, nothing gets done and more things just pile up! I took Logan to school and came home and had lunch with Silas. Logan has been begging us for a trampoline so I took a few minutes before putting Silas down for a nap to look at the classifieds to see if anything had been listed in the last 24hrs. Silas comes up to me while I'm on the computer and and asks if he can play outside. I tell him that he knows what we do when Logan goes to school, we take a nap. I reminded him that he could play with Logan outside when Logan gets home from school. He doesn't like this much and decides to throw a major tantrum. He was rolling on the floor, screaming and flailing arms and legs while turning purple. Seriously! How does he even know how to act like this? Logan has never done it, and although I may feel like doing it sometimes, I refrain myself! I picked him up while he was still kicking and screaming, acquired a fat lip in the process and carefully carried his twisting, jerking body upstairs amidst "I no wanna take a nap, noooooooooooooo"! He stopped screaming and calmed down after I sat in the rocking chair with him and within a few minutes he was sound asleep. I placed him in his bed and after closing his door I picked up the trail of trucks to the stairs, started another load of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and dishes and was beginning to feel a little sorry for myself. Some days are very difficult and it's easy to feel under appreciated...then my doorbell rang. There was Isak from next door with a vase of beautiful purple and yellow Irises and a note from his mom, Suzie. I choked out a thank you and closed the door. WHAT AN ANSWER TO A PRAYER!!! I am remembered, loved and appreciated. Thank you Susie, you made my week!

LET THEM BE LITTLE..............

The song Let them be little has been around for many years now. It was originally written and recorded by country singer Billy Dean and was recently re-recorded by Lonestar. For some reason it's been on my mind today as I watch my boys run and play. The words are so beautiful and a great reminder about the sweet little people I am shaping every day by my love, example and devotion.

I can remember when you fit in the palm of my hand
Felt so good in it, no bigger than a minute
How it amazes me, you're changing with every blink
Faster than a flower blooms they grow up all too soon

So let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little

I've never felt so much in one little tender touch
I live for those kisses, prayers and your wishes
Now that you're teaching me things only a child can see
Every night while we're on our knees all I ask is please

Let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little

So innocent, a precious soul, you turn around
It's time to let them go

So let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little

Let them be little

LITTLE PINK PURSE.....

I've never been a fan of pink. Ask anyone I know. I don't even think I own one item that is pink. But alas I have been converted. I know, don't fall off your chairs when you read this. Thanks to Croft and Barrow, I have come to like the little pink purse. I might just have to get one. I found this at Kohls.

MY FAVS FOR SUMMER

I have always wanted one of these.........
a Derby hat. Yes, it's as big as a satellite, but boy could it block out the sun! Which, let's face it, I need to do more and more as my age continues to progress. I think it's so fun and classy and reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn for some reason. I imagine myself on the back patio as the kids play in the water, drinking a tall glass of cool lemonade and reading a book. I think I might just have to get me one. I found this one on Amazon.

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS..............

Logan came running in the house from playing on the swing set, "Mom I saw a huge spider on the slide! It was big, and black and furry. It was ginormic mom!"

It never ceases to amaze me how children are like sponges. Silas walks up to me while he was eating an ice cream outside and says, "Mom us live on a planet." Logan and I have been talking about how we live in the city Herriman, the state Utah, the country United States, the continent North America and the planet Earth. Silas has obviously been listening.

Jason and I were playing basketball on our outside court the other night and the boys were playing with their own basketballs on the RV pad. Logan yells out, "Mom, Dad look, I'm driveling!"

I'm downstairs when I hear Logan wailing from his bedroom. I run up the stairs and he tells me that Silas hit him over the head with a sword. I scan the room and can't see Silas anywhere so I ask Logan where he is and he points to the corner of the room near the bed. I ask Silas to come out and he carefully crawls out from under the bed. I said, "Silas, where is the sword?" He says to me with huge eyes as he opens his hands palm up, "It dus dispeerd Mom. It dispeerd. I not have it."

Silas was outside playing while Logan was at school. He walked into the kitchen and says, "Mom, ets so hot owside, I need a pocketspul (popsicle) peas."

We grilled steaks for dinner one night. I'm really not a big fan of doing this at home because neither of us are good at grilling steaks, so I'd rather fork over the money and get a really good steak at a restaurant twice a year. Anyhoo. I was on Jason's case to be careful not to stab them when flipping, to flip often, etc. because I hate burned steak. Sure enough, he burns them! We all sit down to the table and Jason brings over the plate of steaks and sets it on the table. Logan looks at the plate of blackened, crispy steaks and says, "MMMM that looks toasty!". After the prayer he bites into his and says amidst very loud crunching"MMM spicy!".....he was tasting the charred, burnt flavor because they were not marinated! At least the kids liked it!

FAMILY PICTURES...........

Mike's son Carter was in town for a visit over the week of Memorial. We were all very excited to see him. The whole family gathered at my place for the weekend.



I know that Logan and Silas look so very different. I always get "the look" from little old ladies at the checkout stand at the grocery store. You know the one, tsk, tsk, tsk, two different fathers kinda look. This picture really surprised even me. Everyone says how crazy it is to have the boys each look so much like one parent. I went through some old pics to see if I could find some of all of us at the same age. I wasn't able to find any of Jason, but here is one of me and Logan at about two.
Here are some family pics.



Here is Shranda on the left (Matt's fiance) and Ember (Andy's fiance).

Michael and Carter.

Nanna Sharyn with her grandbabies. Back L-R: Carter, Teyha, Logan. Front L-R: Silas, Dyson. Times like this are hard for everybody because we miss the other grandbabies in IL Caleb, Daisy and Violet very, very much!


Here is Logan, Silas, Teyha, Dyson. Silas of course, is running around half naked. Yes he did have clothes on at one point.



Here is Andy, Ember, Tehya and Dyson. Amazing that they have blue-eyed children when both of them have brown eyes.

ONE, TWO, I CAN TIE MY SHOE...............

4/16/2010 Logan has mastered the art of shoe tying!

Build a Tipi,

Climb inside.

Pull it tight so we can hide.
Over the mountain,
and around we go.


Here's my arrow.

Here's my bow.

KINDERGARTEN KALEIDOSCOPE............

On Wed, June 2nd Logan's kindergarten class had a skills center day where he was able to show me all the wonderful things he has learned at school this year.

Sorting and counting change.

Writing the missing letters in the word.
Fishing to read the word.

Dressing the tree for the season.

Addition, 4+5=9.
I spy the letters......

Reading. Word race to the top............

Button sorting, by color
and by shape.
Counting. Filling each numbered cup with the correct number of beans.

Sorting, counting, graphing snacks.
Building a picture out of a box of cut out shapes.
He made a sailboat! I think he is just brilliant.Rolling the dice, adding the dots together then turning over the corresponding number card.

Pattern making. Logan made an A, B, C, C, D pattern.
After we were all finished we were able to have lunch together in the cafeteria. This was his first experience eating in the lunch room and it was a great way to get him ready for first grade. I can't believe that Kindergarten is almost over. Where did the year go?

LATE NIGHT DATE NIGHT...................

3/24/2010
My husband and I have tried so very hard to do a regular date night, but it just doesn't seem to happen. Our Anniversary has pretty much been our "date" night for the past 5 years. It was never a problem before kids...there seemed to be plenty of time....and money. Now it seems that we either can't get a babysitter when we need one, or when we can schedule a babysitter then we can't afford it. Since when did babysitters start charging minimum wage? I made $1/hour in high school for babysitting, and truly it wasn't that long ago no matter what my brothers say! Jason and I have tried to do a date night swap with about 10 different couples, and after 5 years of trying to get this idea to work, and actually having it pan out a whopping 1 time....we've finally given up. So we have decided to do a late night weekend Date Night. We put the kids in bed at 7pm and start our night at home. Thanks to Redbox and a dark basement we have our own theater. Last Saturday after getting the boys ready for bed, reading them a book and tucking them in, we went to the movie room in the basement. I must admit that I have a history for not being much of a date after 9 pm. Once I'm all snuggled into the couch with warm blankets and a dark room, I'm out for the count. I'm sure this is the reason that theater seats are so blasted uncomfortable. I was a bit surprised that 15 minutes later I was still awake to hear the faint pitter-patter of little feet running around upstairs, then softly making their way down the stairs toward the basement. Jason of course comments on how I must have been a “bat” in another life because no normal human being could possibly have heard the footsteps over the surround sound! Sure enough, within a minute or so, I see golden curls peeking up from behind the couch, followed by big blues eyes and little white teeth. He had the biggest smile and was so proud of himself that he had found us! . “Hi dada, hi mamma.” He giggles and squeals and comes barreling around the couch. My first thought was how amazing is was that after he had spent the entire day with us, he still just wanted to be with mom and dad. He starts wiggling and kicking to climb up on the couch, smiling the whole time. Jason softly says to him, “Silas buddy, it’s bedtime. It's late. You know you're not supposed to crawl out of your crib. Come on, let's go back to bed. Say goodnight to mom.” Out comes the lip, then the quivering chin, then the tears, followed by a heartbreak sob. He’s hanging over dad’s shoulder with both arms outstretched for me crying “Mama, mama, me stay peas, me stay”. My heart was breaking for him. Here he was just trying to hang out with mom and dad and it seemed to him that they didn't want to hang out with him. I sit quietly because I can understand where Jason is coming from. It was Mom and Dad time, it was nearly 10 o'clock. So I said goodnight once again to my red-rimmed blue eyed boy. Ten minutes later, as Jason was comfortably seated next to me again, I asked him if Silas was still crying when he put him in his crib. He shook his head and told me that he rocked with him until he had stopped crying. I made the comment that all Silas wanted was to be with mom and dad. Jason agreed then pointed out how incredible it was that Silas made it all the way to the basement by himself, since the entire house was completely black. I thought about it for a minute, and he was right! We have plantation shutters on every window in the house. Each and every night before bed we close every shutter as well as the curtains. We don't have night lights anywhere in the house because I never wanted my children to learn to be afraid of the dark. Somehow, in the pitch black, this two year old climbed out of his crib, made it to his door and opened it, managed to find his way to the 2^nd story staircase, then walked down the 2 flights of stairs to the main level, then found his way to the entry door to the basement, opened it and again made his way down two more flights of stairs. The more I thought about this, the more I was truly amazed. What was remarkable to me was how he wasn't afraid during this walk into the darkness because he never cried out for help. He knew we were there somewhere. He knew he would find us. No matter how dark and scary it might have been, the end was all that mattered to him. I sat there for a minute contemplating the great lesson in this experience about the true, deep and meaningful relationship between parents and their children. I also freaked out a little over the thought that he could have been seriously hurt had he fallen down the stairs! Jason turned the movie back on but turned the volume down quite a bit. A few minutes later I again heard the familiar sound of tiny feet coming down the stairs but I didn't say anything to Jason. This time around I noticed how Silas was stepping more cautiously and slow, apparently trying to be as quiet as possible. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs he stood back and carefully peered around the corner instead of just running in to greet us. I sat watching him from the corner of my eye as he slowly snuck up behind the couch and hid behind the tree. I waited to see what he was going to do. Several minutes passed by and he just stood there, patiently. I finally nudged Jason and moved my head toward Silas. He turned and the moment he saw him standing there, his face softened. Jason said he just didn't have the heart to send him back to bed again, so he beckoned Silas to come and sit with us. The look on that sweet little boys face melted my heart! At that moment I was so thankful to have such a wonderful man as my husband! What a kind and understanding father he is. Silas ran over to us, climbed up on the couch and came to sit directly between us. He put one arm around me and the other around Jason. He sat there content and quiet for about 45 minutes until he fell asleep.We let him sleep peacefully between the two of us until the movie was over and Jason carried him to his bed. I'm so glad that he still loves us so much. I don't take this time with him for granted because I fear that the day will come when he will no longer want to sit on my lap, or spend time with me. Deep in my heart I pray that day will never come. I pray deep within my soul that we will always be best buddies. I hope he will always know how much we love him. I hope that he will always know that he will find peace, comfort and safety in our arms. I hope he will always know that no matter how dark, and difficult and hard his life may be, we will always be there for him, just as his Father in heaven will be.

MEMORIAL DAY AT THE PARK.............

Mike came over with Carter and we all drove to Sugarhouse Park to celebrate Memorial Day. It was a great idea Mike!!



There was peeka............

Boo in the tunnel!Sliding,
and climbing,
and Uncie Mike making a human flag,
and more sliding.

Nanna Sharyn pushed Silas on the "saweengs".
He was having a great time, big belly laughs and yelling, "highest, highest"!
And what is a day in the park without a little tree-climbing!


A little sunburned, all tuckered and enjoying a good slice of pizza!!