Summer/Fall 2012

It seems like we had kind of a whirlwind summer.  Maybe I feel that way because its already gone!!  A few pictures in celebration.  I have to be honest I have been loving the cooler weather.  I would not mind if fall lasted for quite some time. 

Annie's birthday present . . . . . . Bertie the Dog.  Hes a little boy Golden Retriever and he really has been a lot of fun.  We and the dog are all learning new things daily.

1st day of preschool for the two little monkeys.  We put Max in preschool because he is 4.  We put Annie in becasue she would probably really enjoy it.  It has actually been a lot of fun learning with them!

                                                       That should be a thumbs up Annie :)

The kids have been really into the idea of camping lately.  I pretty much refused to take them camping, but I did make them a fort in the living room which to date has been the coolest thing I've ever thought of.  Max even consented take a nap in the fort :)

Activities of daily living at our house. . . . . . playing some form of "kitchen."

And a trip up to Strawberry Resivoir to see the salmon run.  You will notice that Annie wears that sweater a lot!

And finally Annie and her friend Bertie.  Seems like I spend half my day keeping the dog away from the kids and the other half keeping the kids away from the dog.  They have taken to chasing him and scaring him and making his life more miserable than I think it should be, but sometimes we do all get along :)

And 4 months later . . . . its another blog entry.  These pictures seem way old (the snow gives it away :)  We've been having fun outside lately, gardening, and doing a little getting ready for baby!

It didn't snow much at all this winter, but we did get to make one snowman.  Max and Annie absolutely loved it! 

A visit to the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake City.

Max had a birthday! 4 years old!!  (I know good moms blog about this in one whole post with a lot of pictures.  Oh well.)

And got a new bike for his birthday.  He loves it and feels like such a big kid (I think).

Shawn ordered some topsoil which means we had a huge dirtpile for awhile.  Best entertainment for kids ever!  They were SO dirty though.  But I'm sure it was fun.

On the dirtpile.

Max has a slight obsession with lawnmowers, mowing the lawn, the people who mow lawns, etc.

I finished Annie's birthday quilt!  Even though its not her birthday yet!  

These kids LOVE to play in the hose.  Its a regular party every day.  I should probably invest in a swimming suit or two for them.  Haven't made it around to that yet.

Check back in another 4 months for an update :)

Shocking that we're still here isn't it? Not much new is happening here and I have very few pictures to prove it. So . . . if you're still checking on us periodically enjoy these few :)

Annie has a thing for socks. Especially my socks paired with her own shoes.

Another smashing outfit for the day.

Actually, what I said is not entirely true. There are two specific new thing happening here at our house. Annie is potty trained (mostly) and Max doesn't take a nap anymore. The latter has been a bitter pill to swallow.

Halloween 2011

Our first real snow was this weekend, and Max thought it was Christmas! I did vow that we would play in the snow more this year and so out we went. Last year I was kind of a slacker and we barely went outside all winter. This year will be different!

I kind of slacked off on Halloween this year too :( Luckily the kids were willing to be whatever happened to come our way. I did make Max's tool belt an hour before trick'-or-treating. Maybe I'm not as lame as I thought!

Shawn went hunting for the first time in about a decade last month. Max found the earmuffs and had to have them. He wore them for three days straight, even though they look so uncomfortable!

Annie was a bee . . . .. .

and Max was Bob the Builder.

Happy Holidays!

Playing catch up

Last time I wrote that "July left me in the dust." And here we are in November. Yeah. I know. The Halloween pictures are still in my camera which I will dust off soon and post, but until then . . . . .

Max's favorite game, "Jump on the dad." I didn't notice until just now that he may have peed his pants in this picture. He has actually been doing VERY well at potty training. Only an accident at night every once in awhile.

Shawn bought a tractor. It really was inevitable. He found a deal he couldn't pass up. Max and Annie love the tractor, and Shawn loves it too. Its a fun addition to our little family.

Normally we keep the bikes outside, but sometimes I walk in the living room to find that Max has drug his into the house.

Must climb higher! Notice he used the bike down below to get into that swing.

Annie's 2nd birthday! Gramdma Susan made her beautiful cake.

July left me in the dust. That's just all there is to it! There was so much to do, and for some reason being gone for one week at Girls Camp really did me in timewise. It was still a fun month with lots to share though!

We bought a zoo season pass this year. What a tremendous idea! The kids love it and we do too. One of the exhibits is a sandbox with "diggers" in it next to the construction site for the polar bears. You can guess what Max loves to do at the zoo now.

Its a shame I waited till August to get one of these beauties! The excitement has kind of worn off now, but they still really like it. I like that I can empty it out and put clean water in it. Nice feature when you're looking at pools.

Some days its just too hard to stay awake. Enjoy the luxury of sleeping in the chair while you can honey :)

In commemoration of the 24th of July holiday we cleaned out the garage. Shawn found a sprayer he doesn't use anymore to give away. He couldn't have found a happier recepient! Max had to wear Dad's hat too.

The almighty underwear. Acutally . . . . the almighty potty! He's a natural (once he decided to give it a try)! We're not all the way there yet, but we've gotten a very good start.

Even though we are "potty training" Max doesn't like to put the underwear back on after he goes potty. And then he puts on high heels. I saved the full butt picture for private viewing only :)

June

All of June happened outside, until it got far too hot to be outside. You know its hot when even Max is willing to come in the house! Its been wonderful :)

Max takes after his father and visits the old ladies in our neighborhood almost daily. This is Max talking to Ada, or Ad-dio as he calls her. Its probably a good thing her hearing is so bad she can't tell that he doesn't know how to say her name.

Nothing better than chocolate milk on a hot summer day!

Even Annie will drink chocolate milk! I haven't been able to get her to drink the white stuff since I took her bottle away :( No one is wearing pants, but Annie has Max's shoes on :)

We try a little potty training here and there. 2 kids in underwear is kind of a rough gig! I'll re-phrase that. 2 kids you don't trust in underwear . . . . . .

Annie has a thing for un-dressing herself, then putting her clothes back on. She's not so good at it yet :)

Our garden survived the wet cold spring, but not all of our trees did. July brings us weeding, and girls camp! And paving season here in Utah. See you then!

May

As May comes to a close we are reminded of the few warm days we have had. Mostly it has just rained here. I think once or twice it snowed a few inches. Sadly, the weather overshadows most of what happened in May! We did get a chance to go see Thomas the Train. And we planted a few tomatoes which are still living!

I've started to let the kids go outside regardless of the weather. My favorite part of this picture is Annie's hat.

Fun in the house.

Max has been on a glove kick recently. He sleeps in them too. And Annie's hair is long enough for pig tails!

So excited to be riding Thomas!

I LOVE THOMAS!!!!

A rare photo of Mom. Mostly I'm the one behind the camera. It was a fun (slow) ride on Thomas, and as soon as we were done Max said he was ready to go home.

Annie's animals. Her crib looks like the wild kingdom. The doggie and the sheep are the favorites though.

Mom's heels are rather hard to walk in!

J. Cool. He kept looking at things with the glasses on, then taking them off and looking at the same thing. Funny to watch kids learn!

And Annie had to try them on to! They would only stay on if I stuck them in her pigtails.

On a brighter weather note it is supposed to be quite warm this week. We'll see. I keep telling myself that I can handle the cold rain if I don't have to live through any tornados. Our snow pack here in Utah is at something like 247% and none of it has thawed! We're keeping our fingers crossed that water has somewhere to go when it all melts! We'll keep you posted.