White Trash...?

It was sunny today. So Ty and I wanted to spend the day outside. But I feel like a bad mom when Ryan is out in the sun a lot (mostly because I tend to forget about sunscreen)- so I came up with this GREAT idea! I put up the beach umbrella in the middle of our front lawn. The neighbors all got a kick out of it- but the more I looked at it- the sillier it became. Oh well. It served a purpose and we had a lot of fun today. Grandma Janet gave Ty and Ryan bug nets and Ty caught a fly. He was really excited! Ryan just chewed on his- but he was excited to be included.

Rockin' down the Highway!

A couple of weeks ago, we took a road trip with Shaun's family out to see Chase and Dani (Shaun's brother and his cute pregnant wife), who are living in Colorado. Road trip you ask? With our kids? YES! My mother in law rented a motorhome and we traveled in style! Actually- I totally recommend traveling this way. Ty had a bathroom, and snacks and tons of things going on. Ryan is just an awesome traveler anyway- but I think he had fun too.

We had a chance to stop and see Aunt Betty and Uncle Wally- who were soo sweet to show us around and talk to us for a little while. Aunt Betty makes the most gorgeous quilts, and has sent each of the boys one when they were born. If I thought I could have gotten away with it- I would have thugged some of the ones that she had recently finished. They were beautiful. I wish I were half as talented. Most of my quilts have some very obvious flaws. And Uncle Wally is an amazing craftsman- he hand pours/paints/builds a lot of war relics- and it was absolutely facinating to see what he has put together.

Once we were in Idaho Springs, we got a chance to go see an old gold mine. It was really interesting, and afterwards we got to pan for gold ourselves. No huge nuggets for anyone (though really- do you think I would admit it on the internet even if I had?), but we all had a lot of fun. Ty decided to feed the chipmunks instead of panning for gold. Probably a good idea since there's a good chance he would have ended up in the river. Anyway- he sat there really well for a while and then decided to pick up one of the chipmunks. It started flailing around and chirping until Ty finally dropped it. We then had to have a conversation about rabies. I don't know that it really sunk in- but I suppose you have to start somewhere.

Anyway- it was a really fun trip. Thanks grandma and grandpa!!

There is no charge for Awesomeness.

I couldn't think of a better title for this post. Maybe I'll get more creative later. Maybe. Anyway, since the weather is finally cooperating, we have been able to take a few trips down to the lake during the day to just play! Ty absolutely LOVES playing on the beach and in the water. Last week, we went with a couple of friends and the kids just kept on goofing off in the water. When I finally fished Ty out- he was literally purple (Bear Lake never gets all that warm) and shivering, but was ready to get back out there. It's so fun- I just love it!

In this picture- the kids are "Kung Fu Fighting," it seems that everyone has an obsession with "Kung Fu Panda" which I totally recommend to anyone that hasn't seen it- it is so funny! Anyway- usually they try out their Kung Fu moves on each other and someone ends up getting hurt- here however, they were trying out their moves on the fish. Much safer. And so much more entertaining for the moms!

Friends or Foes?

Ty and Ryan get along most of the time. Most of the time. It's so cute to see the two of them playing together- and even funnier to listen to them. I caught the two of them in Ty's room the other day playing with a garage and a bunch of cars. Obviously Ryan can't say anything, but he points and he laughs and he tries to play along with his big brother. Ty will also point and laugh, but he tries to show Ryan exactly how to do things and gets soo frustrated when his younger brother doesn't follow "the rules" of the game.

I WON"T DO IT!!!

Ryan is such a stink. He absolutely REFUSES to crawl. We have bribed him, begged him, helped him and attempted to force him... All to no avail. He wants absolutely NOTHING to do with it. It's kind of funny. Any time you put him on the floor in an effort to help things along- he sits there on his hands and knees, and then ducks his head and cries. And we're not talking little wimpy cries- huge alligator tears start streaming down his cheeks, his lower lip sticks out a mile and he just WAILS!

A walk in the country... More than you would expect!

My in-laws are always teasing me that I can never tell anyone what happens when we go to Declo- because it would just be too scarring to others like me, that didn't grow up around/ in "the country." I would like to state here- that I never promised Jacki that I wouldn't tell... And I'm about to spill ALL the beans! :)

All kidding aside- we usually have a lot of fun up in Declo with Shaun's fam

ily. And I do love all of the new things that we are exposed to (okay- not ALL of them... but most!). This last month, Papa Orllo needed to take care of his cows- meaning, they had to have shots, ear tags, brands and I think something else.

Anyway- Shaun and Orllo herded all the cows into the corral and then lined them up for the squeeze-chute (okay- my big-cityness is showing and I can't gurantee that I will do all of these country processes justice or cal

l them by the right name, but this blog is for posterity and I'm doing my best!). Ty was super excited to be able to help THE MEN do the dirty work out in the field, so he stuck right by his grandpa, making sure that he was "helping" him at every turn.

Ty, unfortunately did NOT count on both the smell and the noise the cows made when the branding started to take place. He quickly decided that he would rather be inside with Grandma until the cows quit making all the noise!

Heros and Villans

Can someone technically be a hero if he was the villain in the first place? I mean if you think back to the melodramas that they used to have on TV and in plays- picture the evil man with the thick black moustache that ties the pretty lady to the train track. What if he had a change of heart and decided to save her instead. Does that make him a hero? If someone is given the opportunity to have a change of heart (for the better) or a change in circumstances, do they then deserve accolades?

Ty is our hero/villain of the hour.

Let me set the scene for you. Shaun is out of town and I had the two boys in the tub this evening. I washed them and got them out and took Ryan into his room to put him in his jammies. Once he was dressed, we went into Ty's room to do the same for him. After I walked in, I set Ryan on the bed and turned to get Ty's PJ's out of his dresser. His bedroom door slams shut. I turned around and asked him to open it back up. He told me he couldn't because it was shut. I tried the knob. It was locked. From the outside.

Initially I didn't panic. I pulled a bobby pin from my hair and attempted to pick the lock- after all it was something I used to do daily when I lived at home. I had to lock my bedroom door because my little sister liked to sneak in and thug things when I was out. It's all good- it gave me the practice to free my sons from Ty's bedroom. I tried for twenty minutes to get that thing unlocked and it just wouldn't click.

So I went over to his window to pop the screen out (my mother in law had to do this when she got locked in Ty's room two years ago). But when we had our windows washed, the screen got put in backwards- so the little pop-out handles were on the outside. Lovely.

When I finally figured out how to get the window to fold out and I figured out a way to yank the screen up a little, I realized that I would NEVER be able to fit through the tiny opening at the bottom of the window. Then I realized that I was locked in a room with a little monkey.

Up and out the window went Ty. I felt bad- the drop from the window to the ground was a little more than either Ty or I had anticipated. So I had Ty hanging out the window- totally stretched out and he still wasn't on the ground. I told him I was going to drop him and he got all wide-eyed. But like a good little trooper- he said okay. I dropped him into the bushes and he climbed out and went running for our next door neighbor (we had already talked about what he needed to do once he was free- I'm just glad for once that he listened!!). He ran over there yelling at the top of his lungs, "WE NEED HELP! HELP US! HELP US!" Joyce, my cute 65 year old neighbor comes flying out of her house in her pajamas, remote in hand and starts asking Ty what the matter is. I have my head stuck out the window and I'm trying to yell over to her that we're fine- we just need a little help. She was worried that there was a fire or something. I told her that I just needed her to go to the side of the house, put in the code to the garage, climb through the mess that's in the garage to the back door. Then she needed to come into my house and come and unlock the door. I thought she was going to pee her pants laughing.

Thankfully Joyce did get us out. But Ty got all the credit for being the hero that saved us. So, I ask again... can the villian become the hero? Or do you think he's just masqureding until the next time?