Strawberry Patch

Good News: We finally have a neighbor with a small child
Bad News: They only 1 child while I have 4 small children

Good News: They went picking strawberries with usBad News: She got bombarded by my boys

Good News: The boys actually picked strawberries for meBad News: They didn't always get "good" ripe strawberries. They actually picked a lot of "Rainbow Strawberries" as Mikey calls them - those with both white and red coloring

Good News: Mikey helped Grant by feeding him strawberriesBad News: Grant didn't want to stay in his stroller forever

Good News: I brought my slingBad News: My nice shirt is now stained with his strawberry slobber

Good News: My boys know how to shareBad News: Upon seeing that Ryan's basket wasn't very full, Roger started taking berries (most of which I had picked) out of our basket to put into Ryan's.

Good News: When we were finished we got to ride a hayride backBad News: My boys sat next to Tiffany and her white shorts
I guess that's what you get for being friends/neighbors with a woman and her four kids.

We May Have a Serious Identity Crisis

Does he realize his name is William, and not "Will- dog"?

Free Labor

Is it wrong that while watching a friend's two kids, I had them (along with my own kids) help me pull some weeds?

C-eh N-eh D-eh

My dad's house is right across the river from Canada. So, of course we went internationally.
First time we went over there, we drove over a bridge, and went to Rockport. It's a small little community, and several years ago my old roommate Carley and I walked all over it, to the point that I got bad blisters - weird memory I know.
We brought along our bikes and went biking. We found a bike trail that went around the town and followed that for some time. We then decided to give the kids a break and stopped at a park.We then rode our bikes down to the river. They had this nice pier to look out on the river.As we were looking over the pier, William dropped his sippy cup into the river. We all sadly watched as the sippy cup drifted away (it was one of the better sippy cups). Then the water current was slowly bringing the sippy cup near us. The railing to the water was a good 6 feet, but Todd decided that he could get it without causing himself too much harm.At first it looked hopeful, then as Todd was kicking his foot out to bring the cup closer, it floated too far out of his reach. He climbed back up to a very sad William.
But to distract the boys, we pointed out some more of the ducks.Then the sippy cup came closer once more, and Todd (being the super hero he is) decided that he could retrieve it.
He was successful.
But then the boys were fighting over looking through the look out posts (that weren't working because their parents didn't put any money into them)and someone got hurt.
But we did find a train's caboose that the kids could play with
The next day (it being our last day) we decided to ride the boat over to Canada. This we did and arrived to find a festival going on in the main street....only it was just ending. But the boys did try on some really cute raincoats.After playing at the park some more and boating some more, we were ready to go home. We were sad that our trip was over.... but we were also very exhausted.

I Know

that these shorts are a little short, and that they button in the crotch, making it difficult for him to go to the bathroom.....but aren't they just so cute?!

No wonder

I can't get the dishes doneOr the kids teeth brushed

Uncle Reagan's Home

My brother returned from serving an LDS mission in Fort Worth, Texas. Because we weren't going to be in Utah for awhile, and because Reagan was starting school soon, he flew out to New York to be with us for the weekend.
I could not believe how much Reagan has grown, physically and spiritually.
He has gotten so tall, he's always been tall, but now he's even taller.
He played with the boys so well. Don't you love that he's even sitting on one of the small couches.
He took Mikey on the wave runner. He helped Todd build a bonfire. He helped out with the dishes. He kept his room cleaned with the bed made. I just couldn't believe it.
We went to church at the small little branch nearby. There were a pair of missionaries there. Reagan turned to me and said that it felt a little weird to think that last Sunday he was a missionary.
The branch is really small, but very friendly. Everyone knows and relies on each other. There isn't a nursery, and because they don't usually have more than 5 kids in Primary, I helped out in Primary, bringing William along with me. He was thrilled at this. He got to sit in the seats and be like his older brothers. He sat and listened and was very mature about his first time in Primary. Only problem is that now he has difficulty going into nursery...good thing he's turning 3 soon....bad thing is that his birthday is in January so he has to wait another long year.
After church there was a pot luck dinner at the church. We decided to stay and partake. The members were so nice. The few families that were there have been there since we've been vacationing up in New York. They are simple and wonderful people.
I was really impressed how Reagan interacted with the members. He helped one little old lady out to her car and put her walker in her trunk. He socialized with the people (if you know Reagan, you know this is not normal).
Monday morning I drove Reagan (2 hours away) to the airport. We stopped and had breakfast and had a nice time together. During the drive Reagan fell asleep for 30 minutes. Upon waking up he apologized for sleeping...man he has changed.

My Dad go Fishing

Every time my boys wake up, I will ask them what they dreamt about. One day Mikey told me that he dreamt about his dad going fishing with him. Since then Mikey, Roger, and even William at times, will answer, "My dad go fishing" when asked about their dream.
After all this time (at least 9 months of this), Todd has finally taken them fishing.They were so excited, kept talking about it...but sadly all the waiting patiently, they lost interest very quickly.
But, they still claim to dream "My dad go fishing". Roger, seeing that he has left me out of his dreams now adds on, "but I think about my mom".

Park Day

Because the weather wasn't always ideal for boating or swimming, we did other things.One day we rode our bikes to the park. The bike ride allowed some of the boys to fall asleep. Mikey just dealt with his reality very well.
Do you remember merry-go-rounds? I believe that's what they're called. I didn't know that there were anymore in existence. I thought they were a lawyer's dream and a mother's nightmare. Of course my boys loved it. Todd and I would go on it with them a couple of times, but I would get too sick too easily. Todd lasted a little longer than I... but not by much.
What are these stripped things on Grant's legs - you ask me. Those are Baby Leggins. They are awesome. I know that you may think they're a little "girly"...Todd use to think so to, until he saw how effective they were in protecting our little crawlers chunky legs from getting all scratched. They also keep his legs warm and I don't have to take them off to change his diaper (like with pants).We won't need them much longer though. The weather is getting nice and Grant had fun working on his standing and walking.
I love this pictureI love these two "men"but why do they insist on being disgusting?

Yearly Trip to New York

My dad has a vacation home on the St. Lawrence river in New York. I have gone there every summer since he purchased it. Todd and I have made it our family's vacation every summer also. It is such a nice place, a great get-away. Too bad it takes so long to drive to, or else we would be there more often. It is a nice break though, there's no internet, no phones, no cable television.
There are some little kid couches and a little kid chair. The boys have always liked these, but what surprised me was how much Grant loved them. He would climb into them with the biggest grin. His main purpose of the day was to sit in his chair...even if this meant running (crawling) away from mommy while she got him dressed. And even when he fell off , he still got right back up and got back on the chair.The house has a great deck, and a nice long dock. Of course there's a boat to go riding on the river in. We love to ride the boat. We like to ski, we like to just drive around, and we like to just stop and jump in and swim. Unfortunately we had to go earlier this year - before Todd's residency started - so it was still a little cold....ya, June is still cold there.Mikey absolutely loves boating...he's a lot like his dad. He was great help at keeping a hand on Grant for us.Grant didn't mind boating, but hated wearing his life-jacket. We were all happy when he fell asleep.But we did find a good use of the inner tube.....it makes a nice play yard.
The boys loved wading in the river. They even built a rock pile. They would gather all the bigger rocks they could find on shore (and some of the smaller rocks also), took it to a place on the dock where there was a board sticking out a bit, then using the sticking out board as a ramp, rolled the rocks down onto the pile. They did this at least once a day.
The deck was nice, and we had most our meals there...when it wasn't raining. This allowed clean-up to be much easier.We went on several walks. It was great, and the boys loved trying to catch the fire-flies.William kept on trying to boss around the neighbor's big old dog. Luckily the dog was nice and didn't eat William.The boys had fun with water gunsand painting.And I did buy more ice cream and snack food than I usually ever buy.Grant kept trying out his legs with standing...and took a couple of steps.I got to see the car I drove in high school - how many people can say that?All in all....a great trip