Belated Birthday

Steve's birthday was July 2nd. I did remember - and we did celebrate. I'm just very belated in posting the pictures from his big day. :)

Steve doesn't necessarily enjoy his birthdays and doesn't like being singled out, so he's generally not terribly excited when it rolls around. This year, by lovely chance, he had the day off. (He'd never ask for his b-day off.) We decided to spend the day together in the Ogden area, as we were meeting his mom for dinner that night there.

We went to lunch at a buffet which the kids loved. Something for everyone, right? Just a little sidenote: I didn't really like buffets before I met Steve - mostly because people put foods together in one meal and on one plate that should never be eaten together. You know, like mashed potatoes and lasagna on one plate. --shudder-- (Remember that I was the kid who couldn't let food touch on my plate...) Since meeting and marrying my Sweetheart, I am happy to say that I have developed a deep appreciation for the art of buffet.

So, our lunch was delightful and my children even decided to be mostly calm and civil through the meal.

After lunch we went for a drive up Ogden canyon to Huntsville. Several years ago Steve visited the monastery there and had been wanting to take us there. It was a beautiful drive -- even if certain children who were supposed to fall asleep and take a little napper, didn't.

We were a little disappointed to find that we were there during a time that we wouldn't be able to hear the monks chant. I guess it's really cool. We just walked on the grounds and enjoyed the scenery until the torrential downpour chased us back to the car and down the canyon.

Dad and his girls. (Matt took this one.)

It was a great day. We loved being together and just hanging out. We got to meet up with Steve's mom that evening and ate tacos at one of Steve's favorite places in the entire world - Del Taco. :) Yay! Happy Birthday, Steve!

June

I can hardly believe that June is over and we're well on our way through July. I'm thinking that I'd kinda like a "re-do" of June. It was rainy, cool, and zipped by waaay too fast! In elementary school when I needed a re-do on a pitch in base soccer, it was the pitcher I'd petition. Since I'm not certain who I need to talk to for the June re-do, I guess I'll just have to pull up the ol' boot straps and move on. So anyhow, here is a quick catch up on some things we managed to fit in between rain drops in June.

This summer not only did we get to attend the Logan Summer Fest, but Matthew got to help out in the children's art yard. Now, for a boy who's loved being "the guy" since the moment he could walk and talk (the store guy, the restaurant guy, the worker guy, etc.), this opportunity to help was heaven sent.

Rachel got to participate. She made a windsock, Fathers' Day cards, a sun catcher, a bracelet, and some other fun things. Her favorite, by far, was painting on the easel.

Right outside the Art Yard was this wonderful, giant contraption that spewed out oodles of bubbles. Rachel loved it and chased bubbles until we had to drag her little body away. It was a huge hit among the little bubble-chasing crowd and I have to admit, I was pretty entertained also. Part of the reason is because it was just plain funny watching the kids run around crazy and crashing into each other. The other part, I have to admit, was that I was fascinated by the guy who owned this bubbly monstrosity. He's the one with the lovely big hat in the bottom right hand corner of the pic. What a fun-loving guy to build something like this... and wear that lovely big hat. I can't quite pin point why I was so taken by him, but it was kind of like my wonderment at circus carnies. He took his creation and his job very seriously. Both of my daughters adored it.

Father's Day! At the risk of getting all mushy and gooshy, I have to take a moment and say that my husband is an absolutely amazing father. I have been immensely blessed to have an incredible father and I have been equally blessed to have married a man who is a wonderful father to our children. I love him dearly. So I was severely disappointed that he had to work on Father's Day. We made him breakfast before we sent him off to work, but then had to have the rest of our celebration the next day. We were able to completely surprise him with a totally rocking Fathers' Day present, though. Let me back up for a sec. The entire time I've known Steve, he has talked about these tapes that he listened to as a child. They were stories (accompanied by books) about values such as honesty, hard work, obedience, etc. His favorite was honesty. The biggest reason being that there was this song sung by a grumpy old man, "Who broke my window?" Steve so vividly remembers listening to it as a kid and has sung the song for us like a gajillion times (in his big, deep, grumpy old man voice) over the years. So the week before Fathers' day I was treasure hunting at the DI and found the whole set of tapes for like a buck!! It was a Fathers' Day Miracle!! We even had a handful of the books. So on the morning of Fathers' day, we dragged Steven out to the car because there is a tape deck in the car along with the CD player. (The only thing in the house that we have anymore that plays tapes is a Fisher Price tape player and it's batteries had been pillaged for something else long ago.) We piled into the car and played, "Who broke my window" for him. It was awesome! He was totally stunned and loved it. Yay, DI!

With the end of June, came some sunshine -- finally! The kids have loved that they are finally able to play outside more. Matt and Rachel have had some great time on their bikes, and Bailey is VERY much enjoying her new vehicle!

Summer felt like it took a little longer to reach us this year, but we sure are happy it's here.

Dry erase

Just in case you're wondering...

Dry erase markers work very well on a dry erase board. Sometimes they're a little stubborn, but you can generally just use a little squirt of that spray made for such things and the marker will come right off.

Dry erase marker doesn't, however, wipe off little-almost-baldy baby heads quite as easily.
Thanks to our 3 year old nephew, we now know. :)

Bad news -- for mom

Since my last post, a new Walmart has opened very close to our home. We went on opening day, 'cause that's what we do. It is very nice. I'm not sold on it yet, as I don't know my way around, nor does anyone else. The good news - we made it in and out without a potty stop. The bad news came later that day when my sister called to tell me that they had also visited said Walmart. (What else do you do in the continually pouring rain in Logan?) Here's the bad part -- my sister and her kids didn't make it out without a potty stop. The worst part -- she informed me that the family bathroom has a child-sized toilet and the women's restroom has a pint-sized sink. You know that I can't keep this news from Rachel forever!! Once this precious information reaches the awareness of my daughter, I will NEVER, EVER be able to go to Walmart without visiting the restroom! Kid-sized toliet and sink - that's just too good!

Control Issues?

Since becoming a parent, I have learned far more from my children than I ever learned at any educational institution. Mostly I learn that I think I know what I'm doing, but then I quickly figure out that I don't generally have a clue. I think that part of the problem is that I had Matthew first. He is a great kid. He's always been a great kid. Sure, I spent his first year of life trying to figure out how to parent a baby. Then we spent some toddler years chasing his fast little heinie all over creation. Then we had to potty train a boy and well, that's just different plumbling than I'm used to. He had to have his tonsils removed at 3, and then had a fairly serious blood disorder at age 5 (that lasted a year). So, we had our challenges. Mostly though, we just had a false sense of security.

So then Rachel came along. We waited five long, difficult years for her. Maybe the Powers Above knew that we really, really, Really had to want this baby. The sweet little gal screamed for a solid year because she had such horrible reflux and colic. She finally outgrew that - thank heaven above, but has kinda kept on screaming. :) Rachey is, as the old Russian ladies in Patricia Polacco's books say, "such a person." We love her fiercely -- she is the sweetest, funniest, dearest little thing. At the same time, she is the strongest little spirit that sometime struggles to be squished into a little body. In short, in September of 2005, our sense of security was shattered...into smithereens.

Toilet training Rachel was completely different than it had been for her older brother. We exercised a LOT of patience. For her the key was kind of following her lead and not letting the whole thing become a power struggle. It worked. It was on her terms and happened really quickly when she decided she was ready. It was almost over night and she did awesome. There are indeed more details to the whole process, but none that are pertinent to us at this moment. So even though she did great, as a parent, I was still, for a long time, very cautious. As I don't so much enjoy cleaning up waste fluids, when the girl says she has to go, I jump. You know how little kids are - they wait until the last bitter second and then panic. Even though she's been a proud member of the "big girl panties club" for quite a long time now, she still is infamous for the very last second "I gotta go potty!" panic. This brings us to the present and our bathroom dilemma.

Every single time I take this child into a public place, you guessed it, she's gotta go. It doesn't matter if she just went to the bathroom right before we left the house 15 minutes prior. After a while, one starts to wonder if this 3 year old is legit. Is she crying wolf?? Remember me who doesn't like cleaning up accidents -- especially in public? She says she needs to go, and mostly I don't dare tell her no. Sometimes I throw caution into the wind and tell her to wait. This is the kicker, though - not to give too much potty info, but every single time I take her potty; she goes. Does the girl have a never-ending supply of urine? Does she ration it so she can visit every bathroom in Logan, Utah? I know she has at least decent bladder control because she goes all night without accidents. But, when we're standing in the dairy aisle at Walmart and she's doing the dance with a vengeance, I panic and drag the whole program to the bathroom. One time, just jokingly, I asked her if she really had to go or if she just wanted to check out the bathroom. She said "both."

So in the meantime, I think I've seen just about every bathroom in town. At least the bathrooms in every place we visit in town. We've been to large bathrooms with automatic toilets, sinks, and towel dispensers. We've been ushered to tiny dark employee-only bathrooms through mazes of halls in the back of small businesses where you use bar soap and tear the paper towel off a roll of Brawney. I actually find myself noticing and admiring colors and tile. Sadly, I have my favorites - clean, big stalls, nice smelling soap. If she sounds the cry in one of those places, it's a smidge better.

I guess for now it will remain a mystery as to what kind of "control issues" we're dealing with. Until we either figure it out or she just outgrows this phase, I'll see you in the bathrooom.

School's Out!

Yahoo! It's been a great year, but hooray for summer!

Run, run as fast as you can...

At the end of the school year, our school district has a district "Fun Run" at the high school track. The fourth and fifth graders from all the elementary schools get together and do a mile run/race. It was a lot of fun and the kids all did a fantastic job.

Matthew was awesome! His goal was to run the whole way. He did it! The High School track team was there helping the kids by running with them, pacing them, and encouraging them. Among the team was a boy in our ward who's just a great kid. He ran by Matt nearly the whole time.

The next week was Matt's school's annual Wildcat Run. This is also a mile run, but just the school is involved. It's amazing. There is so much preparation and work put in to it. The kids have to train for at least 6 weeks prior to the race. They do this at school and are expected to put in so many miles at home as well. The neighborhood next to the school is closed off for the morning and each grade takes turns running the mile race. I just have to tell you, I adore the Wildcat Run. Steve was able to go for the first time last year and he was sold on it, too. We all were looking forward to it this year.

Matthew, again, did terrific. He ran the whole way and cut his time almost in half from last year. He was so proud of himself and we were so proud of him.

Now, I am not a runner. Not anymore, anyhow. I just love the Wildcat Run, though. I love that kids have worked hard to be there and they are accomplishing something great. Parents and students line the streets and cheer for the runners. Here's the slightly embarrassing part -- most parents are cheering, clapping, smiling... Okay, Steve and I are cheering, clapping, and sucking back tears. I cry every dad-blamed year! I love that children are pushing themselves to excel and everyone else is cheering them on. It just doesn't get better than that! (For the record, Steve may tell you differently, but he is just as embarrassingly emotional. :))

We love our school and feel so fortunate to live so close to such a great school.