Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Guess what I did today?


Guess what adventurous thing I did today? 

I mean - besides visiting Mesa Falls, Henry's Lake, and Herriman State Park.

And besides getting attacked by nasty snow flies. They look like mosquitos but they don't bite. That still didn't change the fact that I felt like live bait for those guys. They totally grossed me out.

But more on those adventures later.


The one I want to tell you about today is this...


I ate one of these today:

Not the whole thing. Just two bites - and not the part you can see in the picture. I ate the roots (though I think these seed pod things are edible too - but they're not out yet.)

You see - ever since last summer when Sam was so excited about finding all the edible plants in the area I've thought I should try a cattail. 

I wish I could say they were delicious. But I can't really say that. But I can say they weren't bad. I could stay alive eating cattail roots - if I had to. They taste kinda like cucumbers - but more bitter. They need some salt - or maybe just to be put in a stew - I bet they'd be really good that way.

Anyway - I'm pretty proud of myself. Today I ate cattails - and I have 30 things on my list of things to do before I die. I want to get to 100. It might take a while to figure out the things I really want to do (and that I think could be feasible) 

Thursday, May 17, 2012

New stuff


Pansies:

Bein' a rhino

And just because - here's a senior announcement I worked on this week:

Baby does the blogging - 5 months old



Mom says it's my turn to update again. She's still getting my pictures edited - but she did get them taken.


Mom says I am a rolly polly boy. I love rolling all over and I can scoot and turn myself and get almost anywhere I want. Sometimes I forget that I can move so well and I think I am stuck. I'd rather just sit up - now that I finally figured out what Mom has been trying to get me to do.  I still have to have someone help me sit up - I'm pretty tipsy - but I'm working hard to learn to sit up. Sometimes I even sit up in the swing.


I've been pretty sick on and off the past few weeks. Sometimes I really like the breathing treatment thing and sometimes I cry the whole time. Mom says she's sorry - but that we have to do it even when I don't like it. When I don't feel well I don't really like being put down - I just want Mom to hold me. Last night I just wanted her to hold me all night. I finally let her put me in the car seat so she could sleep a little too. I was up at 12:30, 2 and then again at 3 last night. The night before I got up at 2:30 and coughed so hard I threw up all over. It sure does make me tired during the day when I am up so much at night.
I got my first hair cut on the 15th. Mom says it hardly counts as a hair cut because she only trimmed a few really long hairs. I was not impressed that I had to hold somewhat still. Mom says I better get used to it.
Before:

After:

Mom says I am too big and too wiggly to be in the baby bath tub any more. Caleb loves it that I get to take a bath in the big tub. He always comes in to help Mom give me a bath.

I am not a fan of the heat. I get kind of cranky when it's too hot. Sometimes Mom just let's me go without clothes. It makes me so much happier.

I love to be outside. I like to be in the shade and look up at the sky. Mostly I just like Caleb to come and play with me. Caleb is my best friend. He always comes and lays down next to me. Sometimes he helps me roll over. Did you know he is the funniest big brother in the whole world? He does funny things and starts laughing and that makes me laugh and then we just laugh that we are both laughing. Sometimes he comes in and wakes me up from naps. I don't mind much and we both get the giggles.




I am starting to recognize more and more people. On Sunday I watched Grandma walk past us at church and I followed her till I couldn't see her any more. I have also recently decided I love it when Dad is home. I love it when he talks to me and plays with me. I often will only let him put me in the swing. If mom tries I just cry and cry - unless she doesn't turn the swing on. Sometimes I like to just sit.

Everything goes in my mouth these days. Mom is hoping my teeth come in soon - but they don't seem like they're going to. Mom says I've been teething for months - I just don't have anything to show for it.

I guess that's about it. Time for a nap to catch up on the sleep I've missed this past week - first with teething then with being sick. I haven't slept through the night for several weeks.

This is a picture of me and Mom on Mother's Day

All things updated


How does life get this busy? I don't even have school aged kids wanting to do activities...I imagine it will just get busier. But it already feels like life is nearly spinning out of control. 

One morning at the beginning of May Caleb woke up wanting to go potty. He did great the first week and lost interest after that. This week we finally just took away all diapers. We'll see how it goes. He is loving his potty chart with stickers. He is talking more than ever (if that's possible) and his favorite phrases these days are "Sing it Mama!" and "a little bit while." He's also had this obsession with showing things to Jesus and taking a "little bit while walk to talk to Jesus." He has finally gotten the idea that he can just hold up whatever he wants to show Jesus and he doesn't have to go on a walk to find him. Now he hollers, "Cracker up dere, Jesus! See Jesus?" holding whatever it is up high above his head.

We had this happen a few days ago: I was hiding in the closet. Caleb was having a hard time finding me so I knocked on the door. Dad "Caleb, what is that noise? Do you think someone is in the closet?" Caleb "Yeeeeees" Dad "Who do you think it is?" Caleb "Kitties!!!!" Dad "You think there are kitties in the closet?" Caleb "Yeeeeees" Dad "You better check" Caleb proceeds to check the closet where he doesn't find anything - but hears "meow" and he turns back and says "Kitties!!!" Dad "Did you find kitties!" Caleb "no" Dad "Check again" Caleb checks again and says "Kitti- Moooooooom!?!?!"

Now Caleb is obsessed with kitties. He even prayed for them yesterday. "Please bless kitties in the closet." And he pretends he is Mr. Kitty a few times a day. He has also figured out that he can make Emmett laugh. So he does silly things and laughs and gets Emmett laughing and then they sit and laugh because they are both laughing. Every time it happens it's one of those moments I want to keep living forever. It's so much fun to see my boys loving each other's company so much.

And speaking of Emmett - he's back on breathing treatments this week. Tuesday night he was up at 2:30 coughing so hard he threw up all over. Last night he was up at 12:30, 2, and then again at 3. He's been really hating the breathing treatments this time around. I can't wait till he gets over this for good. He just wants to be held most of the time he's awake.

He is getting very good at getting around the house. He rolls over all the time and turns around and even does an inch worm crawl (kind of like an army crawl but just with his legs and his head - he never uses his arms). He keeps taking skin off his face though. But he is so anxious to keep up with Caleb. 

Sam is finally finished with bus road-eo stuff! He's been working on this stuff all school year. It's been especially intense work the past few weeks. Some days we've hardly seen him because he's been setting up obstacle courses and figuring out how to paint lines on the high school parking lot. He didn't get to participate in the regionals because he was a judge - but he spent SO much time and effort on it. The people at the bus yard got him a fishing pole and tackle stuff. The pole is the same color as a bus. He got to try it out on Tuesday night with the scouts - they were finishing up the fishing merit badge. Sam's also been thrilled with the nice weather for frisbee golfing. Monday we all went and the boys and I watched and followed the guys around.

Sam found out some things to do to be more available to future employers - including being active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. It's kind of strange to see Sam really updating things there - that's not really his thing...but it's fun too.  He's still looking for a job. Bus driving will be over in just a few days...and we don't know what to do after that. We're back to this position again...

I also helped with the bus road-eo stuff. I made score sheets for the events - I think 9 different events. Each Saturday (there were 2) they made a hundred copies of each score card - maybe even a few more. It's by far the most widely distributed thing I've ever designed. I've been busy this week designing senior announcements too. This past weekend we had our Mother's Day brunch which was kind of crazy - but turned out really nice and so fun. The girls filled in Mad Libs for their moms and it was so funny to hear them. Today we are going up to the temple - an activity I have been waiting and waiting to do. Thank heavens it's finally warm enough to go up. I am so excited. We also have fun plans for Father's Day - our next activity.

And a few more things:

Mother's Day - this year Sam took Caleb to Florence's and let Caleb pick chocolates out for me. How sweet is that? It totally made my day! Plus he got me two huckleberry ones - and they're my favorites.


 Anniversary - May 3rd was our 4th anniversary. We got pizza (They threw in these little cakes as a special anniversary deal Ü) and then we tried out the DVD player in the new van. Sam was a good sport and watched The Importance of Being Earnest with me. It's one of my new favorite movies. It makes me laugh so much.




Naps - Caleb sometimes takes naps - sometimes he doesn't. One day when he didn't take a nap he was in his room for being in trouble - and he fell asleep behind the door. Guess that was one day he really needed a nap.

 Toys - these are Caleb's favorites these days. We just got the second Mater and the little Japan guy (Caleb calls him the Panda guy - used to be the Pan guy - short for Japan guy) from Grandma a few weeks back. 

Caleb gave Emmett the Rubix Cube (they are one of Caleb's favorite toys) and Emmett looked so guilty. It made me laugh.

Curls - So sad that my boys have such great hair for curling. I did this just with my finger the other day. Daddy and Caleb voted no to letting Emmett go to church this way.


Temple - one of my favorite times of year is when the trees look like popcorn trees at the temple. We went up before Stake Conference a little more than a week ago. This was the best picture we got of Caleb - but I still really like it.



Marching Band - Caleb's current favorite game. He hollers into these pieces of PVC pipe and says, "Caleb's a marching band!" If you ask him if he's playing the trumpet he says, "No, Caleb's playin' a marching band." Perhaps we have warped him. 

 A little change from our regular barbecues - but FHE on our front lawn with baked potatoes is still so much fun! Caleb especially is in love with their new baby. He talks about him almost every day.

Construction - The past week or maybe even two we have had these guys behind our trailer working. They tore down an old retaining wall and vynal fence and put up a new cement wall. We've seen all kinds of construction stuff out there. Caleb especially loves all the different trucks and machines.

 We've spent a lot of time playing on Mom and Dad's bed because their window has the best view of the construction.


Teddy bears - We may never know if Emmett sleeps with his teddy bear of his own accord. If Caleb notices Emmett is asleep without it - he drops it in the crib for him (usually on top of Emmett.) So by default he sleeps with his teddy bear.


 Pinwheels - did you know I love pinwheels? I mean - really, really love pinwheels. I found these at the dollar store and we take them outside almost every day.



 This is Caleb's first drawing that he told me actually meant something. He told me about the shark and the scouts. I asked him if the scouts were going for a ride on the shark and he said in his very serious, drawn out way, "Yeeesssssss."

 Sam's pulled his hot dog roaster out again. This year he's also cooked a potato and a banana (in the skin - outside the skin it wouldn't stay)
 Playhing outside - Ari came to play the other day. We had so much fun outside with the chalk and her dinosaurs.



 Caleb's owie - don't know where he got this - but he was very distressed after his bath yesterday.


 New shorts - aren't these boys so cute? I love them.



 Concert - Last night was the last concert of the year. The Bel Contoes always sing "How Can I Keep from Singing" and they invite all alumni to come up. Sam and his sister Shelly both got to go up last night with Ben and Jeff for their last concert. It was pretty neat.



 Ben - Shelly - Jeff - Sam
 Sam and Jeff - they are crazy probably

You know what I realized last night - I pay attention to the concerts a totally different way than I did 7 years ago...I mean - I love seeing people I recognize - but I'm not specifically watching that one special someone up there - he's sitting next to me (or behind me - the lights went down and we were told not to worry - then Sam laughed evily and I didn't know he was behind me until I heard him laugh. Sam's evil laugh is pretty distinct and better than anyone else's evil laugh. Really - it's great. I'll have to get it on video sometime. He had the audience cracking up last night.)

I guess that's probably about it for us. Doesn't that sound like enough? I think so. And look - pictures even! Blogger and I are finally on speaking terms again.