Hysterical Marker

Yesterday after church we took the kids to see the Old Anderson Mill.


We've passed by there several times and never been able to catch them while they are open. But Friday we were driving by and they had a sign advertising an ice cream social from 2 to 5 on Sunday. Luckily, we remembered by the time Sunday rolled around and we were able to walk though the mill and see the museum of artifacts they have on display.

I had told James that after church we were going to go on an adventure. So the whole time he was checking things out and asking "What's that?" and exploring the ominous looking swamp that surrounded the Mill. Ok so maybe it was just a Koi pond with a ceramic turtle in it, but we can pretend.



James and his Daddy decided that one of the old clothing chests was really an old pirate chest and it was full of treasure. While we were there it decided to pour down rain which only helped to add to the mood. While we were taking picture outside by the mill a big LOUD thunder cracked. Me and Isabel and James about jumped right out of our skin!


Top it all off with some tasty ice cream and you have yourself a perfect family activity.

Suds 'N' Studs

Saturday my two boys spent some time washing and cleaning out JL's truck. Me and Izzy were inside soaking up some major A/C and making lunch for the hardworking duo. When I came out to tell them lunch was ready this is what I saw.....





SUCH A GOOD HELPER!

Hulk Glasses

The kids helped me run errands last Friday. We went to the UPS store, the grocery store and Wallgreens. While we were standing in line at the Wallgreens, James decided he was going to scope out the kiddie sunglasses they had on display. He came walking back over to me with one pair in each hand. Spiderman and the Hulk. He was so cute with wanting to try them on and check himself out that I couldn't resist and told him he could pick a pair and we'd buy them. Here's the winning pair:




I think he made a wise choice. One of his nicknames is "Hulk" so I thought these were rather fitting. He did too for about the first 10 minutes of the car ride. Then he was sure he'd chosen wrong and wanted to go back for the Spiderman glasses. Sigh. It's tough to be 2 and be given a choice!

Swim Cap

James pulled out JL's swim caps this past Saturday from the garage. He brought them over to me and I heard that familiar phrase: "What's this?" I told him they were swim hats, but before I could finish the sentence, he was racing to the backyard with one cap in each hand. Apparently he knew exactly what to do with them now that he knew what they were. He asked me to put them on and this is the result:




I just had to laugh at the way the hat would smoosh the skin around his eyes. I know the thing had to be super tight and feel weird to him - but he didn't seem to mind. As soon as JL joined us, James was begging him to put one on too. I laughed so hard there were tears coming out of my eyes! Isabel seemed unimpressed by the sillyness of the situation. She was focued on eating my camera case!

Chef Boyarjames

James really likes to pretend lately. A couple of days ago we were fixing pretend dinner for Baby Bear and Baby Tiger. This dinner consisted of cookies (because that's what Tiger wanted) and some potatoes.

I had pulled out a few real bowls and spoons and stuff to make it a little more fun for him. It was really cute to watch. He was super carefull to put the pretend ingredients into the bowl with the measuring cups and then stir it all around with the spoons.

So today I decided to let him make a batch of real cookies. He was SO excited! I pulled a chair up to the island so he could see and gave him the flour to be in charge of.
We measured all the flour and he poured it into the bowl. Then he put the baking soda and the salt in and mixed it all together. I handled the big mixer, but I had him help me put in a couple scoops of the flour and then dump in the chocolate chips. But once the cookie dough was to the eating stage - he lost all interest in the mixing stage. :-) And the cookies turned out great!!!

Izzy: 6 Months

Happy 6 months Izzy Jeanne!

Playdate

Yesterday Rose and Ginger came over to play! We haven't seen them in a very long time. The kids swam for a few minutes and then had some lunch. It really wasn't until after lunch that they finally began playing together. I think the long gap between visits had them a little shy. But then - they all just started having a blast.

James and Rose jumped on beds:



Isabel and Ginger played with chewy's:


It was a fun time. As soon as they left James started trying to set up the next play date. "Rose come my house next week Mamma?" hehe

Yesterday was also a big day for Isabel. She started on veggies! I have been looking forward to the babyfood stage for sometime now. I just think it's fun to introduce something totally new to a baby I guess. :-) So for her first try, I gave her some sweet potato with dinner and she absolutely LOVED it! Despite the learning curve (as evidence by the potato around her mouth) she had no trouble eating almost the entire container! Sigh. She's growing up so fast!


Way to go Isabel!

My Continuing Education

I was eating dinner the other night and had to laugh at myself for the way in which I was doing it. I realized I had acquired a new skill and thought it would be interesting to list the top 10 things I've learned since becoming a Mom. :-)

1. How to eat with my left hand

2. How to eat with a baby in one arm

3. How to eat with a baby in one arm while feeding her a bottle

4. How to eat with a baby in one arm while feeding her a bottle and cutting meat for James all at the same time

5. Nuggets can be dipped in anything

6. I can eat Macaroni and Cheese daily without getting tired of it

7. How to survive a waffle phase by cleverly passing off boxed pancake batter as a fresh homemade waffle

8. Recycling left over food by mixing it in with other left over food creates a new and exciting menu option

9. Vitamins go down easier if you call them candy

10. I will never make peace with laundry

Team Work

I'm sure if you happened to miss last nights men's 4x100m freestyle relay swim, you've no doubt heard by now that it was a wopper of a race! Man! JL and I were screaming "go go GO" at the TV and then I jumped around like a wild woman when I saw that we had touched first. What a race! Way to go USA!!!

Olympic Excitement

I've been anxiously counting down the start of the olympics. JL and I are big summer olympic fans. The winter olympics are ok but it seems like there are more summer sports that we're interested in.

JL likes the track & field stuff. I'm all about the swimming and diving. We both equally despise the gymnastics (although I will watch it). But it's the thrill of watching any of the olympic sports that I'm really a fan of. I just get this overwhelming sense of national pride.

I tried with no luck to get my satellite company out before the opening ceremonies tomorrow night so I could watch them in HD. Unfortunately (for whatever reason) they don't have my satellite pointed to the "HD local channel orbital" and they can't get a technician out to fix the problem until the 21st!!! Too bad. I was SO looking forward to watching Michael Phelps in HD. :-)

Picture Perfect

Our families are coming out this fall for Thanksgiving and we've decided to get family pictures taken. Problem is, I am in serious need of a good photo studio.

Last time we took family pictures (just my immediate family) James was 6 mo's old. We went to Sears and I was less than impressed with the service OR the picture quality. They didn't even try to get James to smile. Any recommendations?

On a side note.......

You know what totally made my day last week??? I was at Michael's picking out frames and they were just starting to bring out and set up their Halloween stuff!!! Only 88 more days!!!

High Adventure '08

Last week JL went on the High Adventure trip for the ward. They went out on Wednesday and got back this past Saturday. From what I heard, it was hot but totally fun. They concluded the camping trip with a mini-triathlon JL and Dave had planned. Below is a picture of all the boys after the awards ceremony:

While JL was gone, my family came out to keep me company and to play with the kiddo's. The trip was great! I had a huge "to do" list made up of things I've been putting off because I didn't want to drag 2 kids along. (i.e.....shopping!) So while my Mom and I (and Isabel) hit the stores my Dad stayed here to entertain and play with James. Or should I say - James stayed here with his Grandpa to entertain and play with him. :-) Either way the two of them really bonded!

James is just turning into such a boy lately! He likes to "fix things like Daddy" with his fake hammer and screw driver and he enjoys wrestling and tackling everyone! And of course he still has a deep deep love for baseball. I bet he and Grandpa pitched enough baseballs to complete an entire MLB season!

Isabel meanwhile just loves her Nana! She's such a me and JL girl I was a little worried she wouldn't let even the extended family hold her. But she took to my Mom right away!! My Mom even had her enjoying outings (which is amazing!) and taught her how to hold her own bottle! ;-)

We also made a huge breakthrough with James and potty training. Now, let me just say - I'm not trying to potty train James. At least, I thought I wasn't. But all of a sudden he has decided he wants to do his business in his little potty chair. We'd all be playing and he would proudly declare: "pooks mamma - need potty chair!" At that point, my Mom and I would RUSH him into the bathroom and try to get him on the potty in time. We came close twice - but we never did have a time when he went in the actual pot. But it's encouraging because he definitely has the concept down. He knows when he has to go and that he should be going in the potty - he just doesn't tell us soon enough. But, I'm VERY excited about this new thing! I'm trying not to get my hopes up because I know regression is very normal.....but STILL! How would it be??

Besides shopping, I had a few projects I had been wanting to start/complete. One of them was putting up a collage of pictures of the kids in the hall. I printed a bunch of my pictures off in B&W and had them printed at Wallgreens. Then my Mom and I spent an afternoon cutting and placing them in the frames. I think they turned out fantastic!! MUCH better than I though. Infact, they are so cool, I'm having a hard time deciding where to put them in the house. I've concluded that my original location is too hidden. I want people to see these things!

As with all good things - the visit had to end. I always hate to see family leave. It's so depressing. I really enjoying having people out to visit at the house. The kids LOVE the change in pace and really enjoy seeing the family. As soon as we pulled away from the airport James goes "Grandpa and Nana come back soon Mamma??" Sigh. Yup. Soon.