Maiden Kayak Adventures

We spent Memorial Day weekend on the river. We rented kyaks from the ORP on campus and spent Friday, Saturday, and Monday at Benson Marina kyaking. We had never been kyaking before, and didn't know what to expect. But the most intimidating part was visiting the ORP. Friday night, Chod and I went kyaking for our date. Then on Saturday we took the boys with us. And then Monday we took everyone, including Gracie.
 

I liked it a lot, but Bentley LOVES it! He was all over the place, and as always, had no fear of the water.

He went out by himself on Saturday and on Monday, and I can't wait to tell his OT about it. We even talked about buying kayaks (that's how much he liked it), but after doing a little math decided we'll stick to renting them for now.

 

We didn't take cameras out with us because we weren't sure how steady the kayaks would be, but it was fun to paddle around the marsh and see the birds, and have fish jumping around us. Bentley said his favorite was when we went under the bridge that was covered in Swallow nests with birds flying all around. It reminded me of floating the canal next to our house growing up. 

 

 Lincoln had fun as Chod's ship mate. He's still too little to paddle on his own, but did well as skipper. And Gracie....well she did great for the first 20 or so minutes. Just long enough for us to get a good distance from the dock before she decided the sitting still business wasn't for her. I tried a lot of tricks to distract her, but settled on wrapping my legs around her to keep her from wiggling out (since both hands were needed for paddling) and paddled as fast as I could back to the dock. She seemed happy to lose the life jacket and was content to sit in the car and watch Curious George. And Bentley was more than willing to take over my kayak.

 

 

 Pretty sure it will be something we do again.

Instagram v.32

1. When my original plan didn't work, I turned to paper and paint at the last minute.
2. These 2 have no idea what they are doing. #puzzles
3. Love Cache Valley
4. Grace turns 1.
5. Our kitchen update on thecraftingchicks.com
6. Busted cup and a short straw. #sonicfail
7. And you thought her hair was crazy before. #trampolinehair
8. Because I can always think of 4,500 other projects to work on instead on doing the 1 that I have to do.
9. At least it doesn't say "I hate you" like the notes he leaves me on the wall?

Little Friends

On our way to Island Park we stopped in Lewisville to see Corrine and family. Her little family was in Idaho for Christmas from England, and we got to meet her cute little Livvy and do a little catching up.

These 2 are just a few months apart.

Christmas 2012

It snowed all day Christmas Eve. Chod shoveled the driveway...a couple times. The snow just kept coming. And as usual, he finished his Christmas shopping with the boys, while I finished the last of Santa's projects.

They built their own Frosty in the front yard. All of the rocks were covered, so they used a carrot for the snowman's eyes, buttons and nose.

 We took a late night drive to the university to check on Chod's soil column and tried to find Santa's sleigh in the sky. The boys were sound asleep by the time we got home.

 After Santa had come.

 New Christmas jammies.

 Lincoln had fun opening his presents.

Bentley deemed it "his worst Christmas ever" because Santa didn't bring him rocket boosters or a jet pack.

 Gracie's first Christmas.

She was much more interested in Lincoln's car than she was her doll.

We made another stop to check on the soil column before heading out of town.

The boys were shepherds in the Wilkins nativity.

And Grandpa let Gracie take a nap. (Ever since she was a newborn she covered her face like this when she gets tired.)

 Dalanie loves babies.

 Not enough iPads for all of the grandkids.

 Grandpa's favorite trick.

Scare Tactic

Lincoln is a biter. He only bites Bentley. It is usually when they are fighting and Lincoln gets super upset/frustrated. It is a problem that we don't know how to stop.

The last time he bit his brother I threatened that the next time I was taking him to the dentist and having all of his teeth pulled.

Chod mentioned something about threats I could actually follow through with...

So this afternoon, when Bentley came bawling (there's a very specific cry he has when he's been bit--so I know what happened even though you can't understand a thing he says through his sobs) saying Lincoln had bit him, I knew what had to be done.

Chod and I were working in the garage so I told him I was taking Lincoln to have Dr. Doug pull his teeth. I think the drive to Logan should be traumatic enough to possibly solve the problem.

I opened the door and told Lincoln to get his shoes on cause we were heading to Dr. Doug. Immediately he started screaming. I tried to get him out the door, but had to have Chod help. Lincoln was hysterical (kind of like Bentley when he gets bit) as we backed out the driveway. He continued crying and kept reminding me that he had told Bentley he was sorry (he gives out sorry's freely, but doesn't mean it) and that he didn't want his teeth pulled. But before we had even reached the highway he had calmed down a lot. We talked about what he could do instead of biting, and why he bites. (He says it's cause he is hungry. If this is true we have way bigger problem at hand.)

By the time we had reached Logan he was pretty confident he was going to get to keep his teeth, so just so he didn't think I was a pushover we drove to Dr. Doug's only to find they were closed on Saturdays.

I'm not really sure it's going to solve the biting problem, but I'm pretty confident I've successfully ruined all future visits to the dentist for him.

Instagram v. 21

1: My bubbling kettle
2: Sorry, you missed the donuts.
3: Lincoln counting his candy. He was ecstatic over the 26 pieces of candy.
4: Chod's birthday cake
5: Dad is great, he feeds me chocolate cake
6: Lincoln ate lunch at school with Bentley while I handed out the birthday treats
7: Neighbor kids playing in the leaves.
8: My 4 dz of tulip bulbs from Thanksgiving Point=
9: Wearing my stingrays on a rainy day

Fall Break 2012

During Fall Break I put the boys to work. First, we cleaned inside.

And then we headed outside, cause this mom had a crazy idea to put a flower bed along our south fence.

 So we dug up grass.

 And loaded the grass into the wheelbarrow.

 Then we emptied the wheelbarrow and went back for more.

It seemed to take forever. We called it a day when we had filled up our green waste container and topped off the wheelbarrow. And then we realized we were only 1/3 of the way done!

As my mom always said, "A break from school is not a break from life!"

Art Mom

I had heard that Art Mom was the best. So I signed up.

 My first lesson was on Seurat and pointillism.

 Lesson learned: 1st graders have no patience for dots.

Instagram v.18

1. My take on Halloween decor this year.
2. Fire up the canyon--a great reminder why I don't camp.
3. A little BOOing for FHE
4. Bentley's random plant from school turned out to be a pumpkin that gave us 7 pumpkins.
5. Picked all the yellow-red tomatoes before it froze.
6. Cinnamon rolls and General Conference.
7. Lincoln on the Rocket Computer. Have I mentioned his life is hard?
8. Trying out DIY chalk paint.
9. Drive by shooting on my way through the canyon.

Not Just a Mom

Last night Chod brought me home flowers. Sweet, yes, but not the point of this story. As I was arranging them in a vase, Bentley and Lincoln were questioning my every move.

"Why are you cutting them?" (So they'll be able to drink the water.)

"Why are you doing that?" (These are called guard petals and they're ugly so I'm peeling them off.)

Chod told them to calm down, that I was a plant scientist, and knew what I was doing. Bentley looked at me in shock and asked, "Wait, did you graduate?"

I told him that I had, indeed, graduated and then he turned to Chod to see if I was telling the truth.

Later, he curled up to me on the couch and told me that he never even knew that I was smart.

I'm not sure what graduating means to him, or even what he thinks that I have graduated from (high school? kindergarten? college?). But no matter. Whatever it is, it's enough for me to be more than just a mom in his eyes.

Date Knight

I took the boys to Date Knight at Chik-Fil-A. They had the inside decorated like a castle and the tables were candlelit. The boys had a great time designing their family shields and eating chicken nuggets. Maybe you can tell, but it was just a few minutes after Lincoln's haircut. Chod stopped by to pick Gracie up on his way home from work and the first thing he noticed was the gaping hole (in fact he was so embarrassed that I took him out of the house looking like that, oh well).

 After dinner we went on a wagon ride with this team of mules.

And the boys had fun hanging out with the cow and jester on our ride.

Instagram v.7

1. Lewiston fireworks on the 4th 2. Cousin loves 3. The new ride has a 3rd row 4. Between the birds and Lincoln no one else has gotten a strawberry from the garden. 5. The boys learned it takes more than lemons to make lemonade. 6. Met up with the cousins and headed to Grandma's Camp. 7. Gracie meets Minnie. 8. Paint chip pandemonium at the Lowes party at EVO 9. I had the cutest EVO roommate.

A Big Person

On Memorial Day, Chod was on his way to California to gather soil samples, and I was at home with a 2 week old and 2 rambunctious boys. I sat down to feed Gracie and the boys swarmed me. Knowing I had a long week without Dad at home ahead of me, I told them to get on their bikes and ride to the school. It's maybe 2 blocks straight down the road in our quite little neighborhood. I figured they could play on the playground and when Gracie was finished the two of us would walk down to retrieve them.

Only minutes after I'd sent them out the door they were back.

"The Bishop says we have to have a big person with us and told us to come home."

The thoughts that ran through my head:

1. WHAT! He must think I'm an awful mom.
2. A big person? Maybe he should come and watch them so I can feed the baby.
3. Why would he do that? Bentley is old enough to ride to school by himself.

Later that afternoon we walked to the park to find 2 neighbor boys there by themselves playing in the stream. They are 6 and 4 years old and no way do I think water + little boys is safe. At first I wondered where their mom was. And then I wondered where the Bishop was.


I'm actually glad that we have neighbors that look out for our kids, and have decided he probably thought they had escaped I didn't know where they were.

Where's Your Mother?

My dad wants to know why my blogging has slowed down, and I guess I could blame it on having a new baby--but really I think this guy more of the reason:

He's always been a little mischievous, but since Gracie arrived he's stepped up his game. Maybe it's because he's now the middle child. Or it could be that Gracie takes her sweet time eating. She takes about an hour each feeding, times that by her 8 meals a day, and I've got myself a full time job. And Lincoln has 8 hours a day to think up trouble.

This story could possibly land me in jail, but oh well. Yesterday, the 3 kids and I were out running errands. And it was hot. And Lincoln had fallen asleep. I needed to pick up my serger from the repair store and as I pulled up Bentley said he didn't want to go in, and there was a big shade tree with an open parking spot. So I pulled in under it, rolled down the windows, and left the two boys in the car with the promise that I'd be fast. Gracie and I ran inside and it didn't take more than a few minutes for me to pay (I used cash, so we didn't even have to wait for a card to be ran) and head back to the car. The kind Bernina employee insisted on carrying the serger out, as I had the baby (so this story has a witness).

When we turned the corner, what did we see but this bird perch on top of the Jeep! Apparently, it doesn't take long for him to wake up and decide to climb out the window.

When I asked him how he planned to get down he answered, "You'll get me down."

I couldn't think of a better alternative--leave him up there and drive through town with a 3 year old on my roof?

So he won, I got him down.

Nap Time with Boodle

Lincoln snuggled up to me yesterday for nap time. Although there wasn't much napping as it is really hard to sleep while he twirls your hair, plants kisses on your nose, and whispers "You're my best friend." and "I love you mostest." with peanut butter breath.

But I'd trade a nap any day for that.

Mystery Solved

Yesterday, when I left my check-up with 3 prescriptions in hand I felt a little validated in the survival mode our house has been in lately. No longer do I feel guilty that I took 3 naps a day with Bentley while he was home sick. Nor do I feel bad at the number of meals we've eaten out in the past month or two. Or the hours of TV our boys have been watching for that matter. And the boxes of apples still waiting to be turned into apple pie filling? Now I know why I haven't gotten to them. When Chod brought up the Christmas decorations last weekend and I asked that he put them back because I wasn't putting them up yet--that's excused too. Things have been really sad around here and I'd been crediting pregnancy with the way I was feeling, thinking I was a wimp and needed to just deal with it. But apparently I've actually been sick.

Here's hoping I feel better soon.

Criss Cross Applesauce

I feel like I've spent all day canning apple sauce and apple butter. I started while Bentley was at school and just finished mopping the floor.

Bentley and Lincoln took turns turning--even if they didn't want to share the responsibility. It was nice to have helpers in the kitchen.

I wish I was one of those people who feel a great sense of accomplishment after canning, but I just feel tired and I have burns on my hands and arms from the splattering applesauce. Maybe in the morning, when I see my rows of sealed jars I'll feel differently.

Rollercoaster

Not long after we were married Chod told me that he had always thought he would marry a girl who scrapbooks and loves rollercoasters.

And to that I told him that he should have done a better job of looking for those things in a wife, because I wasn't either.

I can handle the rides at Disneyland, but even some of the rides at California Adventure are too much for me. But that doesn't mean Chod has given up hope of vacationing in Sandusky, Ohio , rollercoaster capital of the world!

So when we got tickets to Frightmares! I knew he would be excited.

 

I encouraged him to leave me and the boys in kiddieland and hit up the big rides, but he insisted he wanted to stay with us. I think he was trying to persuade the boys into loving coasters as much as he does. Luckily for him, Lincoln was exactly 36" (they measured on every single ride) and would go on any ride Chod proposed. Bentley used me has an indicator and would only get on the rides I would. 

As we walked right onto rides Chod commented that our boys had no idea what it is like to wait in the heat in long lines in the summer--and they don't.

Bentley was freezing and ready to leave the park, but Lincoln wanted to close the place down so he and Chod stayed and rode while Bentley and I got the car. And then he still wanted more.

Looks like Chod's found a coaster riding friend.