Spring

I have never really cared too much for Spring. Probably because I have always lived in Utah, and lets be honest Spring does not really exist here. However this year it has been quite exciting! We have been getting a lot of rain (mixed with snow here and there) and are loving watching the tulips and trees begin to bloom. Thanks to a good ole college friend we even planted a couple raspberry bushes this year! 

The boys and I are so excited. They loved helping Tim dig the holes and then prepare the ground for the new bushes to go in. Even better is we will get good and edible raspberries this year! While I would love to have a garden (although I do not know what I would eat out of it besides lettuce and carrots) our location does not really make it easy. I am already trying to figure out how to keep the neighborhood kids out of my raspberry bushes. I think I will tell them they are poisonous or possibly some kind of an electric fence device. As you can see I am still working on it :) We even planted some wheat grass in indoor planters to use for smoothies in the morning. If all goes well this year (and I don't manage to kill everything) hopefully next year we will be brave enough to try growing a few more things.

Ian has discovered long boarding/skateboarding. I am not sure how I feel about this (mostly because we live on the mountain side) but he is really good. He does not have enough weight to turn the board but enjoys jumping and trying to. The first time he stepped on it he turned to me and said, "Mom, I think I should put my helmet on." After about two runs down the driveway he found his confidence and decided he no longer needed the helmet. Too bad mom makes him wear it anyway :)

We headed out to eat for family night to a place called Chubby's Restaurant in town. The food was really good. Tim decided to go for the Chubby's challenge...which you see below. Grilled cheese, two burgers and all the fixings, grilled cheese, hamburger, fixings, and topped with another grilled cheese. The catch was you only had 15 minutes to finish the entire meal.

While I really had no doubt that Tim could do it, I was just worried I might puke watching him. Much to our surprise he had 15 seconds left and about 20 french fries. At which point he decided it was simply not worth it. I was still impressed considering he also helped Aaron with his dinner while eating. However just looking at this picture makes me want to puke....gross...end of story!

As I mentioned earlier it has been raining a lot. Sometimes the boys just need a better outlet to release all of their energy. They love Kangaroo Zoo! It is a giant warehouse with inflatable toys everywhere- and surprisingly clean! Plus during the day we are usually the only ones there, which is even better. 

As you can see Ian still has no fear....

Aaron is just happy to be able to go up and down all by himself now!

Our old neighbors came down for a visit this last week. Aaron and Trace are just 6 months apart and they got along so well! It was great having them come and stay. All of the kids had fun playing. We even went swimming one morning (with the rest of Utah County since it was spring break) and they all had a blast. Hopefully we will get to see them again soon!

In other news as of April 1st Tim can only wear Navy Blue scrubs to work. Tim's mom found a pair of navy blue scrubs for the boys. They do all look rather handsome in their matching clothes. As you can see the boys love pretending they are just like daddy. 

As soon as they put on their scrubs they tell me good-bye and headed to daddy's car to go to work.

These boys have been "growing like weeds." Aaron's vocabulary improves daily and Ian seems so grown up to me. Plus, what post would be complete without mentioning superheroes,  as you can see Ian has taught Aaron well.  

Easter Weekend

Easter Weekend was beautiful! The sun was shining and it was the perfect weekend to celebrate Easter! Tim's parents were in town for the week so we decided take them out to the Larry Miller Motorsport track. Tim and his dad had fun doing a couple races and the boys loved watching them on the bleachers in the sun. 

On Saturday we woke up early and headed to the Easter Extravaganza at Thanksgiving Point. The boys headed straight for the tracker/train ride. Ian wanted to sit right behind the tracker (great for his lungs I am sure). The driver even showed him how to drive the tracker after they finished the ride. It was definitely one of the highlights of his day. 

Aaron practically blended in with the cows and just smiled the whole ride.

What better to do after a tracker/train ride than getting your faces painted. The boys both wanted spiders and were very happy with the results. 

Then it was time for the egg hunts (not much of a hunt involved but still fun). The have four different egg hunts going on at the same time with different age groups and they do them every half hour. Ian went first and we all got a good laugh. We were not aware that he was only going to pick up the orange eggs, he decided that all on his own. Orange is now his favorite color. Aaron went the next round and had fun picking up all different colors plus a couple bags of chips :) 

We headed over to see the farm animals next. Both of the boys loved the pony rides. Aaron is usually afraid of getting on the ponies but was really excited this time. Another highlight was seeing the white peacock. I believe the boys were hoping it would start kung fu fighting just like the evil white peacock on Kung Fu Panda 2.

The boys then enjoyed making bunny ears, decorating cupcakes, and making superhero stuffed animals. I also thought it was funny we took a picture with the chick-fil-a cow and not the easter bunny :) Oh well, they still look cute!

The boys had so much fun and we had so much fun watching them. It is definitely something that we will look forward to doing again next year!

That night we had our own Easter egg hunt outside with baskets the boys made with Tim's mom before they fly back home. 

Easter morning the boys woke up and found easter eggs hidden throughout the house with a surprise from the Easter bunny. I was not feeling well and unfortunately missed most of the morning. In normal Easter tradition they did not get new Sunday dress clothes. They are both growing like crazy and got all new church clothes about a month ago. So we changed it up and found the boys matching ironman swimsuits. 

Later that week my family came down. The boys were so excited for more Easter presents and loved the new slip n'slide my parents found them. 

This was one of my highlights of the week. Ian asking my mom in great confusion, "What does this do?" As you can see he was holding up the blue easter grass from the bottom of his Easter bucket. Due to the mess I do not use "easter grass" anywhere.  After my mom put some in their baskets I now know why... weeks later and I am still finding pieces of it throughout the house. 

 I am so grateful for the joy the gospel brings to our lives. We have been loving reading our scriptures together as a family. The other night Ian asked, "Does Jesus live with Thor? Since Thor lives in Asgard, which is up there (pointing to the sky)." While it made me laugh, it also made me realize that we could do a better job of making Christ the center of our home. If only the boys knew their scriptures like they do superheroes. Elder Richard G Scott spoke on that exact topic in General Conference that next weekend. If you get a moment take the time to read through his talk (linked here). I will close my blog with a portion of that talk that I found helpful.

"We need not worry if we can’t simultaneously do all of the things that the Lord has counseled us to do. He has spoken of a time and a season for all things. In response to our sincere prayers for guidance, He will direct us in what should be emphasized at each phase of our life. We can learn, grow, and become like Him one consistent step at a time."

Together

The first of March was rather exciting for the boys. To prepare and make room for this new baby we moved the boys into the same room! We waited until Tim had his long stretch of eight days off of work knowing that the task might be frustrating. The boys are actually in this picture you just can't see them -they are hiding in Ian's bed. 

There room is superhero themed. What else could it possibly be? They absolutely love it!

Yes some bins are missing logos, that's what happens with a two year old on the loose. The logos are stuck on with glue dots. As they get older and one day outgrow the superhero theme they can easily be removed without damaging all the bins. The downside to this...Aaron knows they can easily be removed.  Yes, Pike stands in the boys room and waits for me to open the curtains in the morning to enjoy the sun rays. 

As for how the boys did...the first night they talked and laughed for just a few minutes and then were both fast asleep. The rest of the week went the exact same! It was too easy -which is what made it scary. Wouldn't you know the next week (when Tim returned to work) let just say I thought I was going to pull out all of my hair. They were driving me absolutely crazy...talking, yelling, screaming, spiting, teasing, taunting... I thought I was going to lose my mind. Normally if a child gets out of bed or does not behave in bed they get a warning, if it happens again then their door is shut the rest of the night. Our door locks are reversed so I can lock them in -best advice our pediatrician ever gave us! If you are struggling with bedtime try it- so much easier than the countless hours of putting them back into bed until you feel like you are going to throw them through the bed. So now the dilemma -you can't exactly close the door with both of them in the room, especially if only one child is the problem. After of few days, and a lot of hair loss, I finally figured it out. Aaron needs a couple minutes on his own to settle down for the night. So I put Aaron to bed first and allow Ian to read another book or two. Then Ian heads to bed. While this method is not flawless it seems to help. They tend to go in phases, one good week of bedtime, one bad week of bedtime. We are currently on "one bad week." I really hope all the kinks are worked out by June when this baby arrives, but something tells me it will not be the case. 

Other than attempting to get ready for this baby to arrive we have been loving the weather. Just this last week it was in the high 60's. We had the bikes out and were riding around the neighborhood enjoying the sun. Then one morning we woke up and there was about four inches of snow on the ground. I discovered this when Aaron come running in our bedroom from the deck in his underwear. snow boots, with a snowball in his hand ready to fire. So we put on our snowsuits did a little sledding and then Ian decided he would make a snowman. 

Aaron helped for a little while, then decided he was done. Sometimes I am not quite sure what to think of this boy. He just decided to rest for a few minutes laying in the driveway.

The finished product! He did the entire thing all by himself and was so proud! Can you tell he got tired of making snowballs. The head of the snowman is quite funny. 

Next week it is supposed to be warm again! Who know what the weather will be here in good ole Utah!