Painting Marshmallows

When the weather is yucky and we're all going crazy, one of the boys favorite activities is to paint marshmallows. I just add a couple drops of food coloring to a little bit of milk to create the paint and turn them lose with paintbrushes and mallows.

I think their favorite part is eating the artwork!

A Cheetah's Spots

This morning I walked into the office to find an uncapped permanent marker sitting on the desk. Immediately I surveyed the surroundings looking for graffiti. But there wasn't any to be seen. So I capped the marker and put it away. Not long after Bentley came walking in with the most ridiculous makeup on I had ever seen! I asked if it was permanent marker and started laughing, because really what else was I supposed to do. Then I saw Lincoln! They said they were cheetahs and the black by their eyes lets them see through the sun so they can spot lions from far away. And it made my day. I Facetimed Deidra and my parents and Deid and Mom where both laughing so hard they were crying. Then I showed Chod, who really didn't know what to say. When I asked if I should start scrubbing right then he said, "No, I think you should embellish it first." We let the boys wear their cheetah spots all day, and they even made appearances in a few stores. But tonight Chod took rubbing alcohol to it and the cheetahs lost their spots. But we sure enjoyed them while they lasted!

Favorite Scriptures

Sunday night before going to bed, Bentley asked Chod if he would wake him up early in the morning so he could make a list of his favorite scriptures before Chod left for work.

Chod agreed and Bentley only came upstairs a handful of times to remind Chod of the plan.

So yesterday morning bright and early Chod sat down to help Bentley write his favorite scriptures.

#1 The Book of Mormon
#2 The Pearl of Great Price
#3 Doctor in Covenants
#4 The Bible

And I'd say that pretty much covers it.

Primary Stories

Yesterday my visiting teachers came, one happens to be Lincoln's primary teacher, and she said she had a story to share about my boys.

This is when as a mom you wonder if you really want to know the story, or if it would be better to not know.

She started off by saying that on Sunday Bentley's name was drawn and he was chosen to help during sharing time. And he excitedly jumped up and hurried to the front. When he got to the front and Lincoln saw him Lincoln announced in his cute voice "It's my brother! Hi Bentley!" and waved at Bentley.

She then said that Bentley turned to Lincoln and said "Hi Lincoln! I love you!" And with that the whole room melted because it was so cute and sweet.


Now if only all stories of our boys were that cute....

Get Air

A couple weeks ago The Crafting Chicks hosted a little party at an indoor trampoline place in Kaysville for some bloggers and their families.

I had never been to an indoor trampoline place before and didn't know what to expect, but thought the boys would probably like it. Chod didn't know what to think of going to a blogger party, but I don't think it was as bad as he anticipated :).

The boys loved Get Air! I chose not to jump as I doubted my pregnant bladder would appreciate it very much, and brought a camera without a memory stick so all I've got to share are some blurry iPhone photos.

Bentley would run over to the window of the party room and flash me 2 thumbs up during the night. But he was so fast I had a hard time catching him.

I made him stand still for this one and he turned into a cheeser.  It didn't take too long before they were red faced. Some kids took breaks and came in for drinks and treats, but not our boys. Chod would usher them in for drinks and they would sneak back out with drinks in hand.

You can see my 3 blurs in the middle going down the slide. There were also foam pits to jump into, trampoline dodge ball and basketball and all sorts of bouncy fun.

When it was time to leave Lincoln started crying, "But I thought we got to stay here a long time?"

"We did."

"That wasn't a long time -- I want to stay more!!"

And the only complaint from Chod was that he thinks it ruined our backyard tramp for the boys.

We give it two thumbs up all around!

Here a Chick, There a Chick

Chod and I have talked about getting chickens for a while, and city ordinances allow 4 hens. Which we figured is a nice and small number that we could probably handle.

Last Sunday the IFA Chick Days flier came in the paper and Chod and the boys checked it out.

On Thursday I bribed with the boys with a trip to see the chicks if they were well behaved.

And they were.

So we went to "look" and ended up bringing home 5 little fluffy ladies (taking into account that we'd lose at least 1) and all the supplies we needed to go with them. We got 1 Barred Rock, 1 California, 1 Red Sex Link, 1 Golden Sex Link and 1 Astralorp because I knew if these girls were going to be wandering around our backyard I wanted some good looking hens and 1 of each means it will be easier to tell them apart.

The boys were excited for their first real life pets that weren't handed down from Aunt Tameka. So excited that Bentley has started making a list of the next real life pets he wants. Next on the list? A wiener dog.

We got them settled in their new home in the garage and then it hit Chod that he only has 6 weeks to build a chicken coop! Man, baby chicks are as bad as newborns. They sleep all day and peep all night. Our first night together was rough, I could hear them out in the garage peeping away and barely got any sleep.

And we kept them all alive for 4 days, but this morning found our littlest, I think the Barred Rock, dead.

When I told Lincoln she had died he asked, "But didn't I take care of her?"

Sorry little guy, sometimes animals die.

Should Have Stayed in Bed

I was bound and determined that this whole time change thing would not be a big deal and that we could handle it.

Yesterday, I realized Chod was still in bed at 6:30. He teaches a 7:30 class so he's usually out of the house by 6:30.

"CHOD! It's 6:30."

"I know, but it's spring break." he mumbled.

"Oh."

So he stayed in bed a few minutes longer, basking in his spring vacation leisure. 

Then I started breakfast and he went to wake Bentley. Instead of coming upstairs with one boy, there were two groggy kids following.

We ate breakfast, all the while I was nagging Bentley to hurry. I continued after him all morning. Move faster. Put your shoes on. Find your coat. We're going to be late. Hurry!

Finally we made it out the door and started our walk to the school. About half way there I noticed the street was unusually quiet. There were no other kids on their way to school. No mini vans headed down the road. And most of all, no orange cones in the intersections.

"Do you have school today?" I asked Bentley.

He told me he didn't know and asked if I had checked the 'chart' that morning.

I knew it wasn't their spring break but couldn't figure out what was going on, so we turned around and headed home. Sure enough the school calender had a big red N on it for No School.

Are you kidding me!

I'm not really sure who won yesterday. Cause as hard as I tried, I think Daylight Savings Time got the last laugh.

Get a Tourniquet

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. A windows down kind of day.

We were leaving IKEA and almost to the car when Bentley somehow cut his finger on a nearby parked car. The cut was about the size of a papercut with a drop or two of visible blood. I told him to hop in and I'd look for a band-aid. I started my half-hearted hunt as Chod started the car and we headed on our way, with the windows down and the sunroof open. By the time we had made it out of the parking lot and onto the road Bentley was hysterically yelling at us to roll-up the windows. We couldn't figure out why a little fresh air was such a big deal to him, but he continued to yell about the windows and then something about how blood stains. It wasn't until after Chod had rolled up all windows and closed the sunroof that we put it all together.

He was afraid the wind coming through the open windows was going to splatter blood all over and stain his clothes and the car.

Chod turned to me, "How bad is this cut? Does he need a tourniquet?"

Cousin Trip 2012

 We had a little adventure with the cousins this weekend (Lincoln loves him some adventures). The Hillmans came to town late Thursday night and the party started before the sun was up. Some little people were mighty excited to see each other. They played in the morning and then we loaded up and headed out.

 Our first stop was for lunch and Aggie Ice Cream on campus. All of the boys ordered Bull Tracks and are pretty sure its the best flavor ever.

We made a few shopping stops along the way, but met up with Chod at Energy Solutions Arena for Disney On Ice Toy Story 3.

The kids were enthralled. During the performance I asked Bentley if he liked it and how many thumbs he'd give it. "ONE THOUSAND!" Yeah, it was that good.

After the show.

We did a little more shopping and ate dinner at the Gateway. On the way back to the car Karisa ducked into a store as Chod and I continued hearding the kids. They were running amok and we got a lot of judgmental looks. Chod commented how these people thought we were nuts--5 kids spanning just 4 years and another one the way.

We made it back to the car and finally to the hotel (I think the kids were most excited about the hotel stay).

 In the morning we ate breakfast in our jammies

 Swam with the cousins

 And wore what Mom packed. Somehow I forgot Bentley's suit, but brought 2 of Lincolns. One was a 12 month and the other 24 months. Bentley wore the 24 months and Lincoln could barely keep the 12 month one up. He looked like a little old man walking around with it hiked up.

We got dressed for the day and visited the Book of Mormon display at the Church History Museum and walked around temple square.

Lincoln took time to stop and smell the flowers.

All in in all I think the kids would have been happy if we would have spent the entire time at the hotel--so next time we plan a cousin trip we just need to make sure they have a pool, breakfast, and some cartoons to watch!

The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock

One of the reasons it took us so long to find a house is that I'm married to a soil scientist. So before we started looking at houses he studied soil surveys, took into account the liquefaction zone, and water tables, and finally narrowed it down to a very small percentage of the valley we could live in.

And finally the stars aligned and we moved. And suddenly it seems half of his department lives within blocks of us! It's reassuring to know that after all the time he spent studying and ruling areas out we ended up smack dab in the middle of other soil geeks.

Lincoln, He's the Best

Love finding little gems like this on my phone! These 2 are the best of buds and I love that B recorded this.

Bedtime Headstart

Lincoln is really naughty at bedtime, okay he's naughty most of the day. But at bedtime it is especially problematic because he has an older brother who needs to get up for school in the mornings. After about a week of Bentley complaining that "Lincoln is keeping me awake!" we instituted the new bedtime headstart.

How it works is that Bentley gets a 15 minute headstart to bed while we keep Lincoln upstairs. Most nights he is fast asleep before we turn Lincoln loose in their room. Lincoln usually plays for a while before climbing in bed and falling asleep, so it has worked out really well.

For 5 months Bentley has thought his headstart was a treat and Lincoln would whine about wanting a headstart of his own. It was amazing. We've wondered how long it would take before Bentley figured out that he was getting ripped off.

And I think the day is soon approaching.