Boysies

Having sons has been one of my greatest challenges and greatest blessings. 

Boys are just so different. On one hand, they are rough and tumble. No nonsense. Dirty. Whiny. Messy. Always hungry. 

and on the other hand, 

They can be sensitive. Snuggly. Smell so good fresh from the bath. Loving. Strong. Soft hearted and Kind.

I especially love Halloween time when my tiny boys become a bit more timid about all things scary. We found Enzo snuggled in Kingston's bed after an FHE activity that took us to the Halloween Store. The decorations (yet again) scared our tiniest kid and Kingston.

We usually have a grip of little boys always hanging out at our house (which I love). We have bikes and scooters all over the front lawn, nerf bullets and empty snack/Capri Sun wrappers all over the house and yard. This was an impromptu dinner- Porter Moeller, the Richman boys, and Noah Bigler (who would eat over every day if we let him). It was soup and they actually ate it....ALL of it.

Two wheelers and Grandmas

And like that, we have another kid riding a bike "wiffout training wheels". The basketball court at the park across the street proved to be the perfect conduit for two-wheeling. Enzo seemed to have it down in one day and has never looked back. He has crashed a ton and usually pedals so fast that he wobbles but he is SO proud of himself. Another last of the "firsts" which makes me a little sad. This tiny boy is becoming a bigger boy every day. 

The Hulk on two wheels. 

While Mary Ann was in Europe, she asked that I check in on Grandma Irene while she was one. I was SO happy to oblige. Enzo and I took her to lunch for her (94th!!!)  birthday and spent some time with her picking tomatoes and riding her Jazzy.

Veggies as big as your body!

Jazzy Hulk. 

Mom and I also got to spend some time with Grandma Cookie for her 79th birthday. We took her to lunch and I bought her a balloon.  I am a firm believer that if you can spend time with someone under 5 and people over 70, you should take the opportunity. I also got to spend some time with Grandma at the gem show. I have a feeling we may only have a few of those left and I will miss taking her. 

Laboring at the Zoo

After our early morning High class I suggested to Brittnee that we head to the zoo. Mom has a yearly pass so it made sense to get some use out of it . The weather was supposed to be nice, no one had work and it actually turned out to be quite an awesome day. We got there after we had lunch at mom's and surprisingly, it wasn't as crowded as I anticipated for a holiday. The animals were all pretty lively too which made it even better. The zoo has really come a long way too- they have redone a lot of things, have new exhibits and lots more stuff for the kids to do besides staring at cages that may/may not have just a sleeping animal somewhere in it. We rode the train, had ice cream, walked through the ever smelly reptile rooms and really, really had a great day together. 

We had a BBQ at mom's later that night and the kids played and played. All the "big" kids played badminton on the lawn until late into the night. Let it be written that Labor Day really is the official "last day" of summer. It's the last night our kids get to stay up "just one more minute" and where the weather is absolutely celestial. The kids have an absolute blast together and I am so glad they have each other. We did miss Dad that day- he was working. He works hard so we can go and play. 

The Zoo Crew

No Zoo Visit is complete without a drink from the Lion's Mouth. That drinking fountain has been around since I can remember. 

BACK TO SCHOOL 2nd and 4th grade.

The kids (and I) were SO ready to go back to school. We found out their teachers just a few days before they actually went back and they were SO excited for their teachers (even Mc who wanted Mr Stone but ended up with Mrs Blaney). They both had close friends in their classes, Mc- Emma, Kingston- Porter so that made this year 100% different from last. The kids were so confident and I felt so much better about sending them off. 

Back to school night was a success- Kingston has Mrs Butikofer. She is TOTALLY into STEM activities and engineering. He is is going to LOVE LOVE LOVE it and I can't wait to watch him excel. Mc has Mrs Blaney and came home the first day saying, "I had THE best first day."  We love Midas Creek and have had such great luck with teachers so far.  

We had a great back to school night where we talked about our upcoming theme for the year. I picked the phrase, "I can!" so our yearly theme. We talked about the scripture, "I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me" and how we can do hard things. We can be the nice kids. W can choose the right. We had a lot of, "I can't's" this summer where an "I can" helped us to overcome and we are hoping that for the kids this year (and every year for that matter). I have mentioned before in therapy we talked about saying, "yes" as often as we can if circumstances allow. 

Here is to another amazing school year for the kiddos!

Grade Numero Dos

My adorable 4th grader. 

Summer 2018, the Finale

And just when I think we can't handle ONE more single, solitary day of summer, it's over and the kids head back to school. The summer wrapped up perfectly and just like last year, and the year before that, I was ready for schedules, lunch at school and a little sanity. We really, REALLY had a great summer. I was a little sad that we didn't get to travel much due to my new calling at church but we still made the most of it. I will miss the $2 Mondays at the pool and being able to run off and grab ice cream whenever we want. I will miss summer nights and weekends that don't end with, "Hurry and shower! Because you have school tomorrow." There's always next summer!

BYE BYE SUMMER 2018!

Me and the Jones girls at Erasure. My ALL TIME favorite performer, Andy Bell, brought it down again. We had a delicious dinner at the Rio and danced the night away. Love the Joneses. 

 It was Enzo's turn for swimming lessons and he couldn't have been more happy to spend an hour every day for a week with his bestie, Tate. We made HUGE improvements since he would put his face in the water. Still a little shy to jump in and wasn't super thrilled about having to "fwoat" but he did it.

real life "Hot Wheels" in my mom's neighborhood

doing some veggie picking at Mimi's

 Ended the summer at Abby & Spencer's wedding. Mc was in AWE of everything! She loved packing Harper around, watching them dance, cut the cake and wearing her apron to clean up tables.

Peaches & Cream

And one last hurrah on the Monday-Tuesday before school started on Wednesday. Mimi and Papa took the kids to their property in Fairview for a cousins sleepover. The weather wasn't super great so the kids didn't get to swim but they did get to go bowling, eat Mexican food, stay up late, and play "cover ourselves from head to toe in mud" on Mimi's watch. They got home late in the afternoon on Tuesday with just enough time to shower and get ready for school the next day.

Enzo said, "that's me in a muddy suit"

Muddy boys,

Summer Prt 2

More summer fun to document! We are at the homestretch! Two weeks until school starts for the big kids. I've said it once, I have said it again- summer goes so fast and so slow at the same time. I try to have fun things planned for the kids almost every day but, I think the kiddos think this is just "normal" life and EVERYONE does fun stuff EVERY DAY. They have cooking camp this week. We went yet again to $2 Monday at the pool and have had lots of late nights riding bikes, playing in the yard and going to the park. We have just barely started pushing earlier bedtime (8:00) so that we don't all go into shock when school actually starts. Bree constantly reminds me how few summers we have with our kids but, I think we are doing pretty well cramming all that we can in.

Bet you can't guess which one is Mc

This summer has been full of cousin sleepovers. We are SO glad that the Thomases live so close. Notice their bead headpiece- they both went to Jeremiah Johnson activity camp and made them.

Baby goats

For family night one Monday we went to Petersen Farms to see the new baby goats and farm kitties. The best was the baby goats just wriggle out of their pen and roam the farm (but not too far from their momma because she yells at them). I had to help the worker chase them and stuff them back in so they could eat dinner. 

Farm Kitty and a City Kitty

On July 31st, as all good Harry Potter fans do, we celebrated Harry Potter's birthday at the library. We made wands, picked out a pet, made slime, had cookies, did a maze (with free Sodalicious coupons at the end), and searched for the Snitch for a prize. 

Some of my favorite Muggles

 Another week, another trip to Thanksgiving Point & some ice cream. This time we did the Curiosity Museum. We are definitely getting a lot of use out of our pass this year.

This door is a little too heavy for him to open himself but he sure is cute "trapped" in there. 

 Lindsy and I went and saw Weezer in concert. We had $20 Groupon lawn seats. While we were setting up a security guard came to stop some teenage girls from vaping and gave them SEAT tickets. I was like, "What the heck? I will break the rules for some tickets!" and he actually gave us some! We had VIP parking passes (from Alex) and excellent seats. The show was SO great! Weezer was the first cassette tape I bought with my own money. They put on a great show and any night with Lindsy is a good one.

Another Monday, another trip to the pool. We were lucky enough to have dad with us this time. He did some pretty awesome diving board tricks too. 

Family History

Grandma Irene showed up at the last family party with something wrapped carefully in a towel. With Grandma, it's always a surprise. She gathered us all together and unwrapped a cane. She then proceeded to tell us the story of this cane that used to be Joseph Smith's and was given to our great-great-great-great Grandpa Porter Rockwell. If you don't know about Porter Rockwell, he's worth a look up. (kind of exciting that Mark's bloodline comes from him).  The top is ivory with a stamped picture of a hunter and his dogs. There is a gold wrap at the base of the ivory and the cane is solid wood. Grandma also showed us a "chink" in the wood where the cane was slammed in the door during one of Joseph's jail stays (not Carthage she guessed). We have really been focusing on Family History at church and keeping our ancestors alive by not only completing their ordinance work but also, sharing stories and pictures about their lives and character. It was pretty neat to get to see the cane (that only gets passed around so often) and have my 94 year old grandma there to tell me and my kids about it.