The Final Croak

The little guy got Anakin for Christmas 2008.

Poor Little Guy. Last nights bed time ritual was interrupted upon realization that the little guy's pet frog, Anakin Skywalker, had been called to serve on the other side. We've known he was slipping the last couple weeks, but that never makes the good-bye any easier. My poor little guy was completely torn up. Dad, swept in (with an amazing amount of empathy and compassion, good job Jon!!) and eased the pain with a beautiful memorial service among the flowers of my front garden. Then stayed with the little guy until he could fall asleep on his own. How heart-breaking to see him so, so sad. Hopefully soon we'll be able to find a perfect replacement. Any bets on the name? I have $10 on Lord Dooku...

History Made

History was made in our house today. For the first time EVER my pip-squeak fell asleep on her own free will. She should have had a nap, I admit. But look! She gave herself one. She's so smart!

Just a sweet little reminder that even though she's growing up, and has a mind of her own, she's still my sweet little baby. Don't you all wish you had one of these?

The Little Guy's First Job

The Little Guy's first "lemonade" stand was a hit in the neighborhood yesterday. He spent a lot of time making signs and helping bake the cookies. He spent a good afternoon at work and came home with a pocketful of money which he is already planning to spend the second he gets a chance.
Call me extra paranoid but I just couldn't let him sit on the corner by himself where I couldn't keep an eye on him...maybe I'm just not ready to let go yet. Anyway, I sat under the neighboring tree and watched him at work. He was so sweet to his sister and let her have a special "2 for 1" discount on the cookies. She gladly paid him, which I let her since it was my money anyway and just too cute!

The best story of the day:
The missionaries stopped and bought some cookies and chatted with the little guy as they ate them. One missionary asked him, "Do you know anyone who would like to hear more about Jesus?"
My little guy replied, "Hmmm....maybe my Grandma. But, she already knows a whole bunch."

A big thank you to everyone in the neighborhood who came by and supported my little guy's entrepreneurial spirit. An even bigger thank you to those who (will never read this) didn't know him and stopped anyway. It made his day!

The Rules of Youth Soccer

So...when Spring soccer came around I volunteered to coach my son's first grade team. I've never actually played soccer in real life yet apparently am still qualified to coach the 1st graders. After two practices and one game I started this post but for some reason never actually published it. Possibly I thought it was a little too harsh. Now that we can all laugh at my less-than-adequate coaching skills, and the kids I'll never see again, I thought you might enjoy my youth soccer cynicism.

The Rules of Youth Soccer (As They Should Be):

Rule #1: The purpose of soccer is to score points. Not to wrestle with your buddy, find worms in the grass, or show coach how you can do the monkey bars.

Rule #2: No picking your nose.

Rule #3: Your mom will always cheer for you even when you're no good at all. That doesn't mean you don't have to practice, or try harder, to learn the game. "Good Shot!" from a mom means nothing in real life except that your mom encourages mediocrity. Sometimes the truth is hard to swallow kids.

Rule #4: Do not tell your coach about your guinea pig named biscuit, your trip to see your grandmother, your super funny neighbor, or how you ride the bus to school, especially when we are in the middle of the game, because the coach doesn't care.

Rule #5: The coaches are voluntary and not paid, so if you don't like something it's your problem.

Rule #6: When the ball comes toward you it is your job to get it to the OPPONENTS goal. I know our goal is closer and you have an open shot but that is just not going to work.

Rule #7: When we play against the team with the giant red-head it is your job to TAKE HIM OUT!

Rule #8: No, I do not have a tissue and I WILL NOT wipe your nose.

Rule #9: I have the whistle, that means you listen to me.

Family Fun Day

Friday was Family Fun Day at This Is the Place Heritage Park.
What does that mean?
It means there were tons of things to do and it was all for freeeeeeee...
The kids had tons of fun and remembered to both bring my camera and actually pull it out and take pictures. So snaps for me.
This is supposedly an annual thing so pencil it in for next year because it was awesome. Free water bottles, free popsicles, free pony rides, free crafts, free kids game with prizes, free train rides. It was tons of fun. We spent a good 5 hours there and still didn't do everything! Thanks to my awesome neighbor for cluing me in on the fun!

Panning for gold...can you see it? We found four pieces!

Pip-squeak: "I love these cute animals."
Little Guy: "Yah, but if you were a pioneer you would have to eat them for dinner, and that would suck."

Look at my cute kids! I know it's hard because you're instantly drawn to the nice picture of the over-all butt in the background. I should probably apologize to that train conductor...

If potato sack racing was an Olympic sport this kid would have the gold medal in the bag!

FREEEEEDOM!!!

No? Could it be? From the bowels of the world wide web re-emerges the most entertaining blog in all blogdom. OK so the last part is overkill but let it be known (to the two of you who read this...one of whom is my mom) that from this point on I promise to try to commit to updating the blog on a more semi-regular basis. How's that for a guarantee?

First on the list of things to blog about. Gratitude. I am so thankful for the blessing we all have of living in this wonderful country. I know I sometimes take for granted the privilege of living how I want, worshiping how I want, playing what I want, and working how I want when in reality people around the world are willing to die to find the same freedoms I sometimes don't even recognize as blessings. I can't even begin to express my gratitude for those who so willingly put themselves in harms way to fight for freedom for our country and for countries around the world. Thank you for all you do. Truly. Thank you to family members and friends who have risked their lives, or are doing so right now, to serve our country a world away from the comforts you are used to. I love you and thank you and pray for a speedy return for all of you.

It was a nice long weekend at our house. Nothing to exciting but a fun Fourth all the same. Saturday we woke up EARLY to go and see the balloon festival down in Provo.
The wind decided to whip up and we only saw a couple of balloons fill up and none take off but the kids had fun watching the balloons crash into each other and into innocent bystanders, cars, etc.

The balloons were blowing into each other and it took a lot of people to keep them on the ground once they were filled with air.
The pig just couldn't stay up. The wind was getting pretty strong and it was blowing into the truck and the people walking by.

Since we were up bright and early we took advantage of going out to breakfast before the Saturday morning crowds rushed in for pancakes. Then we were off to Home Depot. Yes, Home Depot. The first Saturday of every month kids can go and build a little project for free. My kids love it. The pip-squeak loves to "bam" the nails in with her "bammer"...then mom has to just finish up. This month: a periscope.

The little guy practically builds these all by himself now. Jon sticks around wishing he had his own kit to work on.

Saturday night we went to the fireworks at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. I love showing up when it's still light, getting a great spot, and then just playing with the fam until firework time. Jon's younger brother tagged along and the kids LOVED playing frisbee with him while it was still light. My sweet little pip-squeak was a little distracted by the noise but overall it was great. Plus we got a great spot and didn't have to wait forever to get out of the parking lot and on our way home.

Sunday was a nice lazy day with a great BBQ of all the thing just our family likes to eat. That is SO much easier to do when you have a BBQ by yourself! Monday we were off to hike Stewart Falls. It was gorgeous weather and the mountains were so green and pretty. The kids did great. The little guy hiked the entire way and my pip-squeak was a trooper and did a big part of the hike on her own! I was pleasantly surprised. We should definitely go hiking more often. The waterfall was fun. Jon and his brother Nick were brave enough to go stand under it. Looks like Jon got the better spot...

Can you spot Jon's younger brother behind that wall of water?

No this is not Jon's entire family. In fact, it is only a smattering of the entire clan. Jon's dad, brother and younger sister and fam joined in.

I love that our kids are old enough to enjoy the outdoors now. I guess I should rephrase. I'm glad they're old enough that now Jon and I can enjoy the outdoors with them. I'm not the type to brave camping our or hiking with tiny babies or kiddo's so it will be fun to start enjoying our mountains a little bit more. When we got home I thought they'd be wiped out, but the first thing the little guy said after getting cleaned up was, "Can we hike timp tomorrow?" Looks like I need to work out a little bit more if I'm going to keep up with him!

Well, there you have it. A long overdue blog post on a long weekend. A very happy (albeit belated) Independence Day to all of you!! I promise to try and post more...if you promise to try and read more...