Water Fun

I hope no one I know gets the bug that Will and Ben got and are still getting over. Apparently we are not the only ones to have caught this bug, I've heard that it is going around. They are feeling a lot better, but still don't have much of an appetite. It has been such a bummer, because this is their last week off before school. Needless to say, I was a little antsy to get out of the house! The other day, Max and I decided to go outside and water my pots. He loves to help (play) in the water and has so much fun getting wet! He was being so cute, as he always is, so I decided to run get my camera...

He has the cutest hair! Will had really curly hair and still would if I let his hair grow out a bit. Ben's hair is as straight as a board! I have not given Max a hair cut yet, so when he is in the tub or when his hair gets wet, you can really tell how long his hair is.



Max has the cutest little feet! Why can't our feet be this soft and cute forever?


I love how he accidentally sprays himself and gets soaked! As you can see, he is genuinely surprised.


Will and Ben started practicing for fall baseball this week. I love going to their games, they are so cute to watch. They've both been playing for four years, and they have both become good ball players. They play on the same team with all of the boys in our neighborhood, which makes it nice.

Mark decided to take the day off tomorrow so we could take the kids to Lagoon. Kind of a last hurrah before school starts on Monday (YEAH). We are going to go with our neighbors, Brad and Cindy and their boys (who desperately need to start blogging).

Sick Weekend

We had such a fun weekend planned. We took the kids to the Hogle Zoo on Saturday afternoon. They have been begging me to go see the white alligator, the Ghost of the Bayou.



It was so hot and busy there, and the lines to see the alligator were so long. While we were at the zoo, Will complained about having a stomach ache. We left shortly thereafter, thinking the heat and being hungry was causing the problem. We had tickets to the Bees game, so we decided to kill some time and grab dinner before going to the game. In the parking lot of the restaurant, Will threw up. So, I dropped Mark and Ben off at the game and I went home with a sick boy! They just hopped on Trax and I picked them up in Sandy. We were awakened in the middle of the night by Ben moaning for me. I went into their bathroom and found Ben sitting on the toilet and throw up on the floor. Aren't these the best times. You are exhausted, half asleep, and you get to clean up vomit and diarrhea! Luckily, you are half asleep, so you don't really remember. We had a lazy Sunday nursing two sick boys back to health, but they are still sick! I hope they feel better tomorrow so I can do something fun with them. This is their last week off before school starts. Will will start second grade and Ben will start first grade. I am so excited to have some time alone with Max. While being home today, I decided to make a Red Velvet Cake. My mom only makes this on special occasions and I have tried to make it a few times, but it is never the same. This time, it worked out and I was so excited. I even took some to two of my neighbors. Partly because I wanted them to enjoy it and mostly to get it out of the house, otherwise I would have eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow.


This is the best cake! It calls for two bottles of red food coloring. If anyone wants this recipe, just let me know.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet sister Karyn!

Family Picture

Last month we had our family picture taken up at Albion Basin in Little Cottonwood Canyon. When the boys were smaller, we took them to Albion Basin to hike to Cecret Lake. The flowers up there were so beautiful. I said to Mark that I wanted to have our family pictures taken up there some day. Well we finally did it. Our photographer had never been up there before, so they didn't quite know what to expect. The flowers were perfect and our timing was perfect. The boys were such troopers because it took such a long time. My mom, my sister and brother and their families came as well. It's been YEARS since we had an entire family picture taken. The next Saturday, the photographers went up to take their own family photos and the yellow flowers were gone. She was so nice to send me a picture for our blog. They are so nice! If anyone needs a good photographer, call Marc or Mindy Gibson at Highlite Photography.

Wooden Spoon???

Today I had the opportunity to spend a little time with my mom and my only sister, Karyn. We had a delicious lunch at the Dodo and afterward we went to get a pedicure at Nailed (the best pedi place in Salt Lake). Anyways, as I was driving home, I saw this.....



It brightened my day. How does someone shove so much stuff into one car? I know that sometimes my car feels like it really is this dirty (like when we arrived home from Idaho last month) and sometimes my house. I like to think of myself as a clean person, so when I see stuff like this, I don't understand how someone can be this way. But really, there is a wooden spoon smashed to the side of the back window, yes, a wooden spoon. It is really hard to see. I didn't take my camera with me, but was able to sneak a shot with my cell phone. I hope that she didn't notice me speeding up/slowing down to get a good shot. I am in awe as to how she got it all in her car. Do you just throw/wedge everything from the front seat? I thought this was funny to share, and made me laugh. Have a great day!!!

Fun

I was blogging tonight and stumbled across this fun website. Lots of fun little eclectic items. Happy shopping!

http://darlybird.com/

My boys

I love my boys. Yesterday as we were getting ready for church, Ben came up to me and said "Mom, do I look handsome?" I turned and looked at him and couldn't believe how handsome he is. All three of them are so handsome, they take after their cute dad. I had do take a picture of them in their shirt and tie. I don't always have them wear a tie to church, but I think they are getting to the age that they probably should.

We had a great weekend. On Friday night we went to dinner with Mark's parents and then we decided to go to the Parade of Homes. We visited to homes located in Riverton and they were unbelievable, literally. The prices ranged anywhere from 3 million to over 5 million. The yards were what was amazing. They back Riverbend and all of them had pools. It is almost depressing. You come home and think, I live here.

Saturday we dropped off Max at Mark's parents and took Will and Ben to Seven Peaks with our good friends Sarah and Kevin and their kids. It was so much fun for us to spend some quality time with Will and Ben. I know that since Max has joined our family, they have lacked in the attention that they were used to. We all adore Max. He is such a light to our family. All of my kids are. It is amazing at how different their personalities are.

Today I had to go to the Gyno. I know, you are all jealous! I needed to go because it was time and I also had to switch my bc method. I had the Mirena IUD and after I have it for about one year, it makes me break out! So, I decided to just go on the pill. Then, when I do decide to get pregnant again, it is up to me, and not waiting to get into the doctor to have it removed to finally get pregnant. He asked me if I was ready to get pregnant again. I definately want another baby, but not yet. We are enjoying Max way too much. He told me not to wait much longer, you know, the older you get....

I have mixed emotions about school starting. I am not a morning person and neither is Ben. He attended afternoon kindergarten last year for this reason. So, he will be in for a rude awakening come the morning of the 20th. We went to Costco tonight and bought them each a new lunch box. They have the coolest lunch boxes there. I have enjoyed having them home this summer and being able to go do activities with them. I am also looking forward to having some one on one time with Max. Oh, the places we'll go! We are on year round school. I didn't think that I would like it, but I do. We can go on vacation when everyone else is in school. Last fall, over Halloween, we took the kids and my mom to Maui. It was nice to be gone for Halloween. We didn't have to buy costumes, buy candy to pass out to the neighbors or deal with the parade at school. We bought them some costume stuff in Hawaii and went out to sushi that night for dinner. My idea of a great Halloween! We also took them to Disneyland in April over Will's birthday. It's nice. You don't have to feel guilty about taking them out of school to go out of town.

I know that I have friends that read this blog that don't have blogs themselves (yet). I encourage all of you to start a blog!!! Then, I can add more friends to my "Friends that Blog". It is so addicting.

Summer Fun

Over the past couple of days, I've tried to do some fun activities with our kids. I'm starting to feel sad that school is starting so soon, realizing that I need to take my kids to some different spots around town. Last Saturday, Mark and I took them to Tracy Aviary to see the "bur-dees". Whenever Max see's a bird, he chases it around the yard. If one happens to fly over head, he watches it fly across the whole sky. They are definately his favorite. So, we knew that Max would enjoy the Aviary. We fed the ducks and watched the bird show. They boys really had a lot of fun.

Afterward we let them play in the water at the replica of the Salt Lake Valley. They enjoyed getting wet and watching various items flow down the canyon rivers to the Great Salt Lake.




Today, my sister and I took our kids to Discovery Gateway at the Gateway. It was SO crowded!! Now we know not to go in the summer. Also, it was the day when all the home-schooled kids went to the museum. It was the most crowded that I have ever seen. The kids had fun with their cousins, Lily and Charlie, but Karyn and I were a bit overwhelmed with all of the people. Trying to drive the stroller around with all of the people was not fun. When we had finished, we took them to Haagen Daz to get ice cream cones. I let Max have his own cone, and he love it! He was such a mess!! I got a Ben's Cookie. Who can go to the Gateway and not get a Ben's cookie? You also cannot go to the Gateway without stopping by Anthropologie to see all of the cute clothes.