What?!?!

You didn't dress up to watch the Royal Wedding?

An Easter Poem

My Ode To Our Easter - 2011

Some Easter bunnies live at the mall,

Some Easter bunnies are freakishly tall,

I guess this year our bunny was an Iowa bumpkin,

instead of a cute basket he used a pitcher and a pumpkin!

An Easter egg hunt can be so much fun,

Especially when you love to run!

And though the festivities are such a treat,

A fire truck driving by just can't be beat!

Eggs outside are okay I guess,

but I'd much rather eat the grass I confess.

Wait just a second, there's jelly beans inside!

I'll trade in my grass now that I've tried!

Momma was a little frazzled on Easter morn,

cause she had to speak at the church service,

but once I saw these two handsome boys,

it was impossible for me to be nervous!

Easter this year was wonderful and great,

we had dinners, parties, and fun,

but my sweet little boys are now tuckered out,

Their little faces say we are done!

Yup, definitely done!

Happy Easter!

Isus a inviat! Adevarat a inviat!

Earth Day...Everyday...You Can Make The Difference!

I remember that slogan from an Earth Day celebration in high school.

To save the earth today Ethan and I rode the city bus to the mall.

Granted, Clark did have to go about 2 miles out of his way to drive us to the bus stop, and then he met us at the mall with the Jeep...so maybe we didn't quite save the earth...but the bus rides were free today for Earth Day and I have a little 3 year old who loves busses so we took full advantage.

Anxiously awaiting our bus (in our warm car)!

Ethan loved it, Disneyland has nothing on the city bus! He kept pointing out all of the normal landmarks we always drive by with such excitement, everything looks better through a bus window! "Look at those beautiful trees, look at this big mountain our bus is going up, look at Walmart!" When the driver hit the curb in the Walmart parking lot Ethan yelled quite loudly, "whoa! what happened?" The driver then apologized to all of us.

I rather enjoyed our little one on one time and the fact that Ethan held my hand for most of the ride. I wish everyday was Earth Day!

On an additional note: Clark saved the earth today by finishing his last podiatry exam that will be taken at DMU! This is huge! Millions of trees will be saved! We are so proud of him-and celebrated tonight at Red Robin. Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hatching Easter Eggs

Last night we had a fun time dyeing Easter eggs for our Family Home Evening with Bryce and Jessica.

The best part was when Ethan wanted one of his eggs peeled so he could eat it. He said, "Momma, can you hatch this egg for me?"

I thought it was pretty cute. Tonight for dinner we hatched a few more.

Horse Face Strikes Again

Back in the day when I ran cross country, every time my parents would see me run by my mom would worry that something was seriously wrong with me because I looked like I was in pain. My dad would reassure her that I was fine and that I just looked like that when I run.

The grimace on my cute little mug was lovingly called the "horse face."

I kind of thought that maybe I had outgrown the "horse face," but apparently not. Today while I was working out Ethan in a very concerned voice said, "be happy momma." I replied, "I am happy." Ethan then asked, "then why are you making that face?"

I had no idea I was making a face, hope little E isn't traumatized for life! His little comment made me giggle for the rest of my workout.

Beware the horse face!

Sometimes I Feel Like A Circus Sideshow

This morning as we were getting ready to leave for Wee-Read at the library Ethan pointed out that we all matched. Sure enough, we did all match! We looked like we were on our way to get pictures taken, so I decided to prop the camera on Ethan's horse and take a few self-portraits.

Here is the first one, a little crooked...but it looks like we have our act together and are ready to face the world (mostly):

Here was our second attempt:

Unfortunately, the second shot was a pretty good indicator for how the rest of our outing would go.

After Wee-Read we needed to make a quick run to Sam's Club and Walmart so I could pick up a few ingredients to make dinner for some of our friends that just had a baby. On our way there Caden fell asleep so I decided to take in the big double stroller so that he would continue sleeping as we shopped.

Ethan was starving so I bought him an Icee from the food court, I figured he could sip it in the stroller while we shopped. They are huge, they come in 44 oz. cups! I immediately asked the girl working if I could have a smaller plastic cup to put some in to make it more manageable for a 3 year old. She quite curtly told me "no, we can't waste those." I asked if I could buy one from her and she rudely turned me down again.

Really, you can't spare a plastic cup!? I pay you just to shop in this store. And of course, when we were waiting in line at the slowest check-out possible, Ethan spilled his red Icee all down his shirt. He was quite upset because it was wet and cold. I was sad because I liked the shirt he had on and knew it would not be near as cute in a pink hue!

The whole thing just really frustrated me because I knew if that girl would have just let me have a little cup this wouldn't have happened. So I went in to complain to the manager. She gave me a patronizing pat on the back (literally, she touched my back) and told me she was sorry. Ethan gave his best whiny eyes as he showed her his shirt.

Still annoyed we headed for the parking lot. I was balancing 2 loaves of bread, 2 french baguettes, and 2 lbs. of grape tomatoes on the top of the stroller. I don't know how, but right when we were crossing the road to the parking lot the tomatoes slipped off the stroller, the carton opened and about 2/3 of my tomatoes started rolling away! I tried to pick up a few but we were in the middle of the road so I just walked away.

I was feeling a little sad about my lost tomatoes until I drove by and heard people "ewwwing" as they stepped in them or pushed their carts through, and then the whole scene looked quite comical, and I felt a little vindicated that I had caused the ruckus! Take that Sam's Club!

After getting through the gnat nest I parked in we made it into Wal-mart covered in small bugs. We managed to shop without spilling anything this time. We did have one wind sprint across the store pushing the cart (with a crying Caden) when Ethan told me he had to use the potty...just to get there and discover he really meant to say, "I already used the potty."

I got a lot of interesting looks as we walked out to the car. Poor Ethan was covered in pee and red Icee, Caden was screaming. I wanted to shout, "we all looked cute just 2 hours ago! I do take care of my children!" But I didn't, I just walked out feeling a bit like a circus side show.

Even the mundane chores become an adventure when you have a clutzy momma and 2 boys in tow!

Hide and Seek

Ethan's favorite game right now is Hide and Seek. When it is his turn to seek he pretends like he can't find us in the most obvious places and walks around checking every other spot. However, when it is his turn to hide he thinks we really have a hard time finding him (even though he is in pretty much 1 of 3 spots everytime). It cracks us up. Here is a video of Ethan seeking for Clark.

Vibrato

A few weeks ago Ethan got a Primary Colors CD in the mail from Grandma Karen. They are an a cappella group that jazz up children's songs. He LOVES it! One of his favorites is the Itsy Bitsy Spider. In the middle of the song they sing, "eeeeeeeeensy, weeeeeeensy, spiiiiiiiiider," in a really dramatic operatic style. We noticed that this is now Ethan's favorite part of the song...and he can hold out those notes! I love how he looks like such a serious little choir boy singing in this video.

Right now if you ask Ethan his favorite song he will tell you Elton John's "Crocodile Rock." It came on the car radio one day and I was singing along and he thought the "waaaaaa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa..." part in the middle of the song was so funny. So we downloaded the song on iTunes and now he requests it all the time for our daily dance party.

The other day it came on the radio while we were pulling into the parking lot at Trader Joe's, Ethan cried when I turned off the car before the song was over. We had to have a lot of crocodile rocking afterwards to make up for that one.

Sleeping Like a Toddler

Since Ethan no longer has the cage quality of a crib to contain him at night we have found him in some funny places fast asleep. Last night Clark was surprised at what he found at the top of the stairs.

And on another night with his head under a box that was under the bed. But no matter where he goes Brown Dog always follows.

Earning His Tools

I was looking at pictures that I have taken this past week and I noticed 2 similarities in most of my pictures (1) my living room is a mess, (2) Ethan rarely has pants on.

I have no excuse for number 1, but for number 2 there is a reason - we are finally having a little break through on the potty training. We had come to a complete stand still, Ethan was what my pediatrician described as the "resilient potty trainer."

After talking to her, she finally convinced me to break down and buy him his own little potty. I've been fighting this, anyone who knows me well knows I just have a strong gag reflex and the thought of having to clean out his little potty just seemed gross!

But the "green frog" that Ethan picked out, and the Lightning McQueen Pull-ups were just what we needed to get this potty train back on track and rolling again. Both of these give him a little advantage so he is the one in control of the situation.

He got to go to Toys R' Us and pick out a bucket of tools, he knows when he gets all the stickers on his chart that he gets his tools. As the chart is filling up I'm starting to get nervous that he's going to earn his tools and go right back to his "resilient" ways...but I can always hope!

On Friday Ethan proudly showed his "Tool Chart" to our friend Bryce. Bryce not knowing about the tools Ethan is trying to earn thought our use of the word "tool" was our euphemism for "stool."

I'm just as excited as Ethan for everyone of these stickers.

First Baby Steps

On Wednesday when Clark walked in the door after school Caden was so excited he stood up and ran his first little steps straight to Clark.

So I've been wondering why our little 10 month old is so eager to walk...and the answer came to me while watching these next 2 videos...he just wants to survive his big brother! He needs those walking skills to even up the playing field a little bit.

I love that when he walks he gets the biggest grin on his face, he truly is so proud of himself!

My second favorite part is comes in for a huge hug after his little steps. This next video was taken after I had gotten home from kick boxing last night and he was not going to let his momma out of his sight!

Lawn Mowing Service Available

If you need your lawn mowed give us a call, Caden is available most days. Video Disclaimer: No babies were harmed in the making of this video. I apologize ahead of time if you get motion sickness watching this little video clip.

When we went outside to play this afternoon Caden used the lawn mower to explore the yard. He had a huge grin on the whole time! It is like he's just been waiting for weeks to have the independence to run around outside, he loved it!

I love his concentrating look trying to get balanced.

Thinking about it a little more.

Gaining confidence and ready to go.

Stopping for a tasty grass treat.

I'm afraid it won't be long before he is on the run just like his brother. And just like his brother he will be on the run with a little red mohaw blowing in the wind.

Memoirs of an April Fool's Fool

This morning when I realized it was April 1st I tried hard to think of a good prank to play on Clark. I'm still needing to get back at him for the time he told me he was in a car accident on April Fool's Day (I was home with a brand new 6 day old Ethan at the time and quite hormonal)! I didn't come up with anything, I guess I'm just not much of a prankster. The only times I remember really being involved in an April Fool's joke left me looking like the fool.

When I was little, maybe 4 or 5, we lived in Duchesne, Utah right across the street from my grandparents. I remember playing over at my grandparent's house on an April Fool's Day. My aunt, who was in town visiting at the time, and my grandma decided to play an April Fool's joke on my mom. They prepped me well with what to say and then sent me home to tell my mom that my younger brother Weston had fallen off the roof (this was entirely possible since we used to jump from the roof onto the trampoline all the time). I remember going over and telling my mom that Weston had fallen off the roof, she saw right through me and asked if I was lying. I tried to put the blame back on the adults who made me do it, but still got a lecture about never lying about things like that. It obviously had an impact on me because I remember that lecture. I felt bad...and then my April Fool's Day got worse.

Later that day back at my grandma's house my Aunt Lucille made strawberry shortcake. I was just sitting up to the table to eat mine when my aunt started screaming thinking she had seen a mouse in the kitchen. Come to find out my uncle had a fake mouse he had hidden in the kitchen where she would find it. Well all of the screaming startled me so much I completely forgot my strawberry shortcake and jumped up on the table sitting right on top of my plate!

I didn't know what to do so I just sat there hoping no one would notice. Well they definitely did, and apparently seeing me in my little turquoise Fluppy Dog sweatsuit with the rear end covered in whipped cream and strawberries was a hilarious sight. For me though it was humiliating.

(A Fluppy Dog, Do you remember these guys?)

When I was about 11 or 12 I found myself in Duchesne again on April Fool's Day. A few of my cousins and I schemed all day and were so excited when we came up with the perfect joke to play on Grandma P. A new little pizza joint had just opened in town and we decided to take advantage of it. We walked downtown, found a pay phone, and in my best pizza worker voice I called Grandma and told her that in honor of the grand opening celebration she had won a free pizza that she could come pick up later that afternoon. I think we were then planning on going home and telling her, "April Fool's, no pizza, ha ha," but none of us were expecting Grandma's reaction. She was so excited about winning, she even said, "I've never won anything in my life this is great." After hanging up the phone we laughed for a few minutes, and then all of us felt terrible. We ended up pooling our money together to buy a pizza for Grandma.

I'm just not good at April Fool's Day.

But Caden is pretty good at it. In this little video he could convince anyone that his Fur Real Pet is a real puppy.

I hope you all had a good April 1st!