Jake's donated book

Jake had enough AR points to donate a book to the library and he chose the Guinness World Records To The eXtreme.

He loves reading those kinds of books so he was excited to see that it was in the pile of books that he could chose from.

Way to go Jake!

Erasers

I wish we could use a giant eraser to wipe away the memories of our dreadful maiden voyage in the motorhome.  If we could do that, then the trip we just took would be the new maiden voyage and it would be awesome.  So, let's just do that.

The Leprechaun and his friends.  It was funny to see this caravan leave our neighborhood in a line.

Instead of being a respectful grave visiting daughter and mom, I spent Memorial Day sitting at the waterside watching my kids play.   I let my mom and sisters take care of visiting my son's grave and we played.  Believe me, I feel totally guilty about it, but at the same time, I had the most relaxing day that I can remember in a long time.  I didn't chase kids anywhere.  I didn't lose a child or worry that lives were in danger for even one minute.  I didn't have to calm even one temper tantrum or break up a fight between brothers.  I sat in a chair soaking up sunshine and only got up when I wanted to.  I can't even describe what that did for my soul.  I know that all sounds silly to most of you, but my life at home isn't ever as relaxing as Memorial Day was this year.

We went to our neighbor's land up on Glendale reservoir.  We took the Leprechaun and this time we were lucky in so many ways.  Jason fell asleep at 8:00 so I was able to sit at the camp fire and laugh with my neighbors and friends.  We told stories of our ancestors and I thought of my awesome grandpa and was proud to think that Jason Kay is named after him and will love to hear stories of his bravery in the war.  I thought of my dad and we laughed about his Icelandic pride.  We talked about Mike's grandpas and we talked about the people that made us who we are.  I thought about Sam a hundred times and thought about how he would fit in with the group we were in.  The girl who was born just a few weeks before him was there and I wondered how they would get along.  So, even though we didn't visit graves, my loved ones who have gone to live in heaven were in my thoughts just as much.
We played in the water all day long.  Allie and Jake spent so much time on the kayaks that their legs got fried.  They have been walking pretty slowly and I feel bad about neglecting sunscreen duty.  It won't happen again if I can help it.

Jake, Allie, Nate and Jason

Jason is the only one who didn't end up sunburned.

Nate has a strip of red where his swim shirt failed to cover the constant plumber crack that he had.

They would probably tell you that the sunburns were worth it though because they had so much fun out on the water.

Allie built a few of these in different places and then I told her to build it in the actual fire pit so we could light it.  She did, and a few hours later, it started on its own from the embers of the fire the night before.  She thought it was pretty cool that she made her own fire.

The kids spent a few hours on the dock.  They picked up the anchor and floated it out in the middle of the lake and played pirate.  They really played well together.

Mike and I borrowed this thing and had a great ride up the canyon with the little boys.  They loved the speed and I loved the view.  Everything was so green and beautiful.  

We reluctantly packed up camp and drove home in time to get ready for the last week of school.  The kids are done, and I am done, but after that fun little trip, I guess we can make it a few more days.  Life is good.  I'm grateful for days like this.

 

Making good on an old promise...

Mike made Allie a bunk bed for her American Girl doll for Christmas the year before last.  I told her we would make some bedding for it "soon".  She reminded me about my promise every time things were chaotic or when there was a baby crying in my ear.  My excuse was always that we would do it "later".  A few weeks ago, both Jason and Nate were taking a nap and the house was quiet.  She asked if we could make the bedding and I didn't have an excuse, so we did it.

 Allie picked out some fabric from the bin and got to work helping me measure things out.  I let her sew all the straight lines and she was a quick learner.

The fabric is actually something that I picked out for a blanket when I found out I was pregnant with Jake.  It was the girl stuff and I ended up using the boy stuff.  I found some that I liked better when Allie was born, so it has sat all these years.  Now it has a home with Allie's dolls.

She loves it, and now she'll have to find something else to pester me about when I am busy.

Top Dog

I used to walk by the case in the front entryway of the school and look at the students who were chosen to be the Top Dog in each class.  I used to help out in Jake's class and knew the students who were chosen each month from his class and figured that Jake would probably never get to be pictured among them because they were just good kids and Jake has never really sat quietly in his seat.  :)
In April, Allie came home and told me she had been chosen as a Top Dog in her class.  I couldn't believe it!  Way to go Allie! 

 I do wish we could spend a little more time on her hair each day.  She always looks like a straggly kid.  In this picture she looks like she's huge compared to the other girl, but really, she is still just average sized.

Later on, Allie came home with this picture.  I am proud of her too.  Way to go Allie!

Things I don't want to forget...

...I love it when Jason tries to ride this little toy skateboard.

The Daily Tussles

Jason and Nate love each other.  I know they do.  Nate always wants to be the first into Jason's room when he wakes up from a nap.  He asks about him and misses him when he is asleep.  Jason always wants to be near Nate and follows him everywhere.  So I know they like each other.  The problem is that they both have very similar likes.  They like the same cars and airplanes, so those are always a fight.  They like the same balls.  They like the same sippy cup, and the same spot on my lap when we read books.  They also really like motorcycles and wheelers.  So, they both want to ride at the exact same time.

They also both want to be at the helm.

The usual winner in every tussle is Nate...size being the determining factor of who gets to push their way into the driver's seat.

Jason tries and tries, but will eventually come to me crying and begging for me to intervene.

Oh, Nate... maybe some day you can learn to really share.

The Car Wash

Now that Nate is potty trained, he has found a need to wash his hands more often.  He has a little stool and washes his hands several dozen times a day.  He sings the ABC's while he washes and I think it's great.  He has also taken to wash his toys whenever he thinks they need a little germ free time.  

I have to add, and I think my germaphobe friend Heidi will understand, that I cringe because the truck is resting at the bottom of the sink and therefore not getting as clean as he thinks it's getting.  But, since he used to eat his own poop, I don't think he is very concerned about the things that reside on the bottom of a bathroom sink.

Reading

I love that this boy likes to read.  We have read a bunch of books together the last few months and it's fun to talk about them.  I listened to The 39 Clues series because he really liked them and was always asking me about the places that the kids were traveling to in the books.  I had been to a few of the places (Italy and Russia) and thought it might be something we could chat about.  We also read The Unicorn Chronicles together.  When I say "read" I mean that he reads them and I listen to them on audio.  I still rarely find time to read, but I can listen to a book pretty quickly.
Jake gets a fair amount of screen time on the weekends or on rainy days, but I always ask him to read when he is bored and he never balks at the suggestion.  I'll ask him to read for a half hour and then we both forget the time.  That's how I used to be as a kid so I love that he is that way too.
We are about through the school year and one of the things I am looking forward to most is reading Harry Potter with Jake and Allie.  We have plans to read each night after the little boys go to bed.  Yay for reading!

Conversation at the changing table...

The scene:

I was getting Nate dressed after a bath.  This is a conversation we have nearly every day.

Me:  You have such a cute little bum.  Can I have that bum?

Nate:  No...you already have a bum.

Me:  But I want your bum.  It's so cute!

Nate:  No mom.  You have a bum.  I have a bum and you have a bum.  You can't have my bum.

Me:  Are you sure?

Nate:  Yeah.  I'm sure.  My bum would be too tiny for you...and you don't need two bums.  Just one.  I have a bum, you have a bum.

This is true.  We all have bums.  One bum is plenty.

Happy Mother's Day to me (a conversation in the car)...

The scene:

We were on the way to school after piano lessons so I had the 4 kids in the car.  We were listening to our cd of primary songs and the song was The Family is of God.  We all love that song and are just starting to learn it in Primary this month.  We have learned the first verse and the chorus, but the other verses are new to us still.  Then the lyrics "a mother's purpose is to care, prepare, to nurture and to strengthen all her children" came on and this is how the conversation went...


Allie: did she say "murder all her children"?

Me:  (laughing almost to the point of tears)...no...it's not murder...it's "nurture".

Jake:  No, they said "torture".

I laughed even harder.  I thought of the future of my children and wondered if they would grow up thinking that I had tortured them enough.  It is absolutely fitting right now after the fiasco of our first motorhome trip.  Jason must think that I torture him with as much as he cries.  I do love those kids of mine though and I love the words to this song.  The primary kids sang it in the program just after Sam was born and I remember sitting in the congregation watching my Allie and Jake up there singing their hearts out and letting the tears roll down my cheeks.  The chorus line that says "this is how He shares His love, for the family is of God" still brings tears to my eyes.  I have said before that having Sam in my life opened my eyes to the love of God.  I know that I have felt that love and it is so strong and pure.  I love my family and I know that I am going to be with them for eternity.  I am so grateful for that.  I am grateful to be a mother.  I know that these kids will have days when they think it is my job to "torture" them, but my love will never fail them.  I will never murder them :).  Happy Mother's Day to me!   

Easter Egg Hunt

I forgot to post the pictures of our Easter egg hunt.  We had a few on Saturday before Easter.  Jason and Nate navigated their way throug the Smithfield City hunt and as usual, stopped to eat any candy they could find.

 

Allie and Jake ended up with a bit more.  Allie got a water bottle and 2 dollars.

Jake got some Billy Bob teeth and a water bottle.

Later on, we did one in our back yard with the cousins.

Jason found Grandma Bonnie who hooked him up with treat after treat. 

Then mean mom said that he had enough.  There were some serious tears.

I didn't take a picture of them all together.  To tell you the truth, I have been a picture taking slacker these days. 
They all had fun though and got more candy than they needed.  I love doing all the crazy stuff on Saturday and then spending Sunday thinking about the real meaning of Easter.  It works for us.

Blueberry Ring Pop

The blueberry ring pop that I had in my purse saved the day when we were at the grocery store and the boys just wanted to be home.  It sure was a mess though...

 

 

The Maiden Voyage

We got the Leprechaun cleaned up and ready to roll by the end of the week and decided to take it to Star Valley to make sure we knew how to run everything.
Allie and Jake were buckled in at the table making Lego's.

 Nate and Jason were at the couch.

The ride there was uneventful.  It wasn't the worst we've ever had, but since the kids were buckled in, it wasn't the best ride ever either.
We got to Star Valley and had time to do some motorcycle and tractor roaring.

The kids had fun with their cousins and the motorhome was a total hit.

 Grandpa built a sweet new swing set.  It has 5 swings and the kids all love it.

Allie was out looking for treasure and found this one.  There's all sorts of rusted out metal if you go looking for it.

Jason was content with the swings for a few minutes, but mostly he went over to anything with a motor and climbed aboard.  He is relentless.

All was well until bed time.  I was having fun cooking the family dinner with my fun little stove and all my supplies.  Everyone ate and was happy...then the crap hit the fan.  Jason and Nate didn't want to go to sleep.  Jason is used to falling asleep all by himself in a crib.  He didn't know what to do with the wide open spaces of the motorhome.  He finally fell asleep at about 10.  I wasn't at all tired, but all the rest of the family was asleep and I was afraid that Jason would be up a few times in the night, so I fell asleep about 11.  I awoke at midnight to the screaming banshee.  When Jason gets into that screaming fit, there isn't anything I can do to snap him out of it.  I tried every trick I knew.  I was worried that he was going to wake up the other kids and then we'd really have a mess on our hands.  I really didn't know what to do.  Luckily grandma B. had left the keys in her car, so I took him out on a tour of Star Valley.  He'd fall asleep for a minute, only to wake up and scream.  That crazy beast took hours to calm down.  The whole time, I was so sad.  Not for Jason.  I knew he would be okay.  I was sad for my dreams of the fun of the motorhome.  All my hopes of fun summer camping were dashed.  I can't bring that kid to a quiet campground when we won't even have Barbara's car to escape in.  I just don't know what to do with that kid.  He did finally fall asleep, but he was up before dawn.
It made us all pretty grumpy the next day.
Our drive home wasn't bad at all.  I took a turn driving just to see if I could handle it and it was just fine.  The kids were so good that it made me feel a little better about the whole trip.  I'm still sad though.  I thought I'd be going up the canyon with the kids to spend days at a time.  Mike could stop by when he is done with work, but it would be mainly me.  Those were my dreams and now I know that they would be nightmares in reality.  Jason needs more than just me.  I know he'll grow out of this, but right now...living in the middle of it all is hard.  I don't know why I wasn't prepared for this to happen.  He rarely sleeps through the night at home.  It shouldn't have been a surprise.  Darn boy.
I keep reminding myself that the maiden voyage on our boat was a total disaster, but we've had lots of fun in the years after that.  This first time was a bit stressful learning about the water systems and having a leaking tank, and sad Jason.  But, I hope we'll get it figured out and it will be fun.  We've just got to get back on the horse.