Happy Thanksgiving...

I still need to catch up on the vacation to California and I plan to do that really soon. But for now, here's a funny thing Will talked about on the way home from dinner tonight.

Will said, "When I am big and I can drive a car by myself can I go to DI? Buy some toys and then go home? And can I go to thrift town? Where else should I go?" He also talked about how he would drive Rowen around in his carseat, so when Will is 16, Rowen will still be in a carseat? So we were playing with our silly three year old's mind and told him that he could go find "chicks" (baby chickens) and pick them up and drive around with them. Then I said, and you can take them home, well, don't take them home, you can't take chicks home. Will said, "My daddy would say no bringing chicks home". Then he said, "I will pick up chicks and stomp on them until they are dead." I said, no you be nice to chicks, you kiss them. He then said, "I will kiss them and they will kiss me and then they will lick me and start biting me."

No joke. Just remember he is 3. He had no idea what he was saying but we were laughing so hard we were crying.

I am thankful for my silly 3 year old who can make me laugh. Who can also talk the entire way home for an hour. Really talk constantly for an hour. And who can scream, "I love you I love you I love you." I want to get upset for screaming in the car, but he's saying I love you, who can punish that? He is so sweet. And my silly baby who puts on his daddy's shoes and claps for himself! He is so sweet.

Amidst all of life's changes and challenges and disappointments, there is still plenty to be grateful for. With my new job, I get the duty or joy of seeing the sunrise in the morning, 5 days a week. Today I saw a herd of mountain goats, and I get to see stars, tons of stars, and breathe fresh mountain air (at 5 degrees). It's just beautiful. And I have wonderful friends and family. I could not get along without them. I am also thankful for space heaters.

Happy turkey day to you all!

Halloween

Thought everyone would like to see the Halloween costumes. I am proud to say they are homemade! My wonderful seamstress mother helped me with them, and I am really happy with the results. William's costume was a hit everywhere we went. He was so excited about it, he would bound into any room, run up to people (or into their houses while trick-or-treating) and say, "I'm Syndrome!" Which sounds like "synsssrome" when Will says it. And he talks so fast no one really knows what he's saying but us.



Rowen was Max from "Where the Wild Things Are". I was the monster who is also in that book. A lot of people thought Rowen was a rabbit, until they see the black tail, and then I have to explain. But a few people who are fans of the book got it right off the bat!



William, doing a Syndrome pose and eating a sucker! (The only treat he ate from trick or treating today! So far.)



A happy mama. With a costume that's really only half done. I need a black beard and a HUGE mouth with teeth, or as Will would say "owie teeth". I never did make the beard, but I did wear the makeup on Saturday to a Halloween party.



Our tails.



William got a new haircut tonight, I'll post pics of that soon. Actually Rowen had his first haircut the other day, inspired by the photo a couple of posts down from Home Depot. You'll see Rowen's hair getting really long above the ears. Ala Orthodox Jew. Don't know what it is, but genetically we must be Orthodox Jew, William had a similar hairstyle when he was this age. We just need to curl it and get black top hats for them.

And we are off to California tomorrow and there will be plenty of pics coming of that! Wish me luck on the 14 hour drive with two rambunctious boys who will be forced to sit in the car. What am I thinking? Oh yeah, redwoods, beaches, good friends, vacation, road trips....that's what I am thinking. But I do need some luck to survive the drive.

Family Travel

If anyone has a good tip for traveling a 14-ish hour drive with kids, let me know. But in my quest to find such information, I found this article. I will copy my favorite parts after the link. It really is what I should read about 5 times every day.



http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/family-travel/pit-stops.html

If anything, being a mother has taught me pride has no place, plans are made to be broken, rules change constantly, dreams don’t always come true, and zippers in snowsuits seldom last longer than six weeks. It’s a profession of bewildering yet exhilarating proportions; qualifications are unnecessary, recognition is rare, and quitting time is nonexistent. The demands are colossal, but they are dwarfed by the rewards. Every day is an adventure. Every moment is precious. Every child is unique.

When my children are parents, I anticipate they’ll make the same miraculous discovery I did; mom’s mistakes weren’t as dreadful as imagined. I hope they'll be able to say that in our home hurts and adversity were soothed with the ointment of laughter, love and grace.

If my sons can take their places in this world as men of honor and distinction, then I will have done well indeed. It’s a responsibility and a privilege beyond mothering or fathering; it’s the living out and the passing on of all that is admirable, true, lovely, and good of the human spirit.

At times it’s a challenge I meet beautifully, but often I fail miserably. I believe, however, the road ahead will always abound with pit stops and pitfalls; it’s the way it’s traveled and the tracks we leave that count.


Well, there it is. I guess I am in a little introspective parenting mode these last two posts. Oh well, you'll either enjoy it, or you'll get over it. Either way it'll be okay. :)

Boys and tools

What is it with boys and tools? The kids LOVE Home Depot. They also love the carts they have there that are like a race car. This is one of the cutest pictures ever. Taken by Jason's iPhone. Gotta love it.

Today I learned...

That sometimes your screaming kid doesn't NEED you to hold them. But sometimes after they stop screaming, they do. And after that, they are "happy now, so it's okay." And when you cry, they kiss you better and tell you it will be okay. They don't dwell on emotions, they experience them, and then move on. I also learned that the best thing you can do for your kids is shut your mouth. We were playing at the park, where there is COLD, dirty water and mud, and two little boys. After a few, "no, don't walk in the water, just throw the rocks in," I shut my mouth and they had a great time, Rowen even walking in the water and sitting down in it. I learned that your child's laughter can heal any pain. I learned that little boys experience great joy in mud. The whole world can be fun, if you let it. Sometimes your camera doesn't turn on. Sometimes you just need to remember the moment, and not capture it with a camera. I remembered that being a mom is the best job in the whole world. It's the hardest most demanding and most amazing and joyful job in the whole world. If you aren't on the way to a wedding, let your kids get dirty. If a bath can fix it, it is probably a great activity to participate in.

I have a little quote book in my room, one of those calendars you turn for each day. One of the quotes was this:

A boy is...a noise with dirt on it.

I couldn't say it better. I love my boys.

Still sick...

Well, once the boys got better from the intestinal junk, they've had coughs, strep throat (me and Rowen) and now fevers and body aches (Jason too!) So, since Jason left August 13th, someone in our house has been sick. Only Rowen and I went to church once in the last month and a half! Yikes! It's like the intestinal bug they had has wrecked their immune systems and now it's just sickness after sickness after sickness. I have to admit though that all these other colds and bugs aren't as bad as the intestinal one, so we are doing "better".

Other than that, we went to Thanksgiving Point gardens the other day, it was really beautiful. Reminded me of some gardens we went to in Salzburg Austria a few years ago. They are actually the gardens that the Sound of Music kids run through while singing the Do Re Mi song (i think). Anyway, they were pretty. Jason made fun of my reaction when Will almost stepped on a snake. I honestly don't care if it's "just a garden snake". It's a snake and I HATE snakes! Will seems to attract them, like when we went camping when he was a baby and a snake got in our tent. Since we have no idea how long it was in there, we decided Will's indian name would be "naps with snakes". So beware if you take Will hiking or camping, you're bound to see one. (Not exactly, because I am happy to say we have had several outdoor outings with no slithery friends in sight, but it's funny to say anyway.)

The President of Utah Friends of Midwives resigned the other day, making me President. So..I'll keep you updated on doing non profit type work for a cause I believe in. January will be CRAZY!!!! We are really busy during the legislative session.

Can't think of much else going on here, still loving the new dishwasher (running at this very moment).

HOLY BLOGGING...time to catch up!

Well, as far as being sick, the kids got better, and I got sick. So we've had about 2 days with no one sick in the house since Jason left to film this movie. He gets home tomorrow and I am not quite better yet. But it is so nice to have everyone keeping their food down. :)

Of all the cute things Rowen does, this has to be one of the top. If he isn't sure if he should touch something, he reaches his little hand out and then pulls it back and puts it on his tummy or chest, then reaches it out, and pulls it back, over and over, he's testing it out. It's so cute. Well, since he knows the doggie's water is a no-no, he has his cute hand on his tummy, and once he decides to go for it, he splashes and gets soaked, and then just to see what it's like, he sticks his cute chubby little foot right in it. Silly little monkey. (Excuse the photos being out of focus, my camera has been a little weird.)




We have kept ourselves busy going to Hanksville to visit Jase. I told my mother that no one should ever be required to spend more than an hour there. I mean it. You could sentence someone to jail, and make them stay in Hanksville, no cell required. So, although we were sick, we made the trek to Hanks-hell twice. The first time the kids were still sick, and a week later, Jason and I both got sick. Then two other guys on the camera crew got it. (Sorry guys.) But it was worth it, William especially missed his daddy. This trip seemed to be extra hard on Will. He has definitely shown some anxiety about missing dad. He's had a much harder time going to bed, and it has shown itself in other ways too. So it was extra important to visit as much as possible, and it has been nice for everyone. The first weekend we went down, we drove to Torrey and then to Boulder (a beautiful drive, if any of you haven't been there, you should do this drive) and saw some Anasazi ruins at Anasazi State Park in Boulder. Then we drove around Capitol Reef and picked some fruit from the orchards there, had homemade ice cream and apple pie (made from the fruit from the orchards), and drove around some more. It was raining almost the whole weekend. We also left the camera at the hotel that entire time. So we had to go down again the next weekend.

The second trip down to Hanks-hell was fun as well. We went into Torrey again, by the way, Torrey is a cute little town and everyone should be required to spend more than an hour there. We ate pizza at a little place that was very cute and had horseshoes and frisbee golf to play with while you wait. It also had a really old rusty paver machine like Bessie from cars movie, William was VERY excited. (More rusty old cars movie characters coming later.) The pizza was good too. So, then we stopped and looked at some petroglyphs in Capitol Reef.


We took this picture on the way into Capitol Reef from Hanksville. It was raining a little, and it looked like snow was on these buttes. We don't think it was actually cold enough to snow, but that is really what it looked like. And it's a beautiful picture anyway.


You can see some of the petroglyphs toward the right side. Just to the left of that you can see some more "fresh" rock. Actually there were petroglyphs all along this cliff and the ones to the left were destroyed during a rock fall in the 1950's. I really really like seeing petroglyphs, it almost makes me giddy. I think I should have been an anthropologist. Actually I told my dad I wanted to be one a long time ago, and he told me that there was almost nothing I could do with a degree in Anthropology and I changed my mind. Thanks Dad. But still, I LOVE this stuff.






The decks where you go to see the petroglyphs are walled in on either side, so the kiddos can't fall off and can't escape except for the entrance. It was a great place for Rowen to crawl around and explore. He loved it there.

Okay, so I lied. There is one good thing about Hanksville. That is if you are a three year old boy. There is a rusty old broken down tow truck. Or as we affectionately call it, "Mater". William was so excited to see it. Now, I do have to tell you that there is a house on cinderblocks directly behind this. Not a car on cinderblocks, a house. Now that is white trash. Really now that I think of it, there are two other cool things about Hanksville, well okay three more. This is all if you are a little boy. 1. The toad that lives outside Jason's hotel room door. 2. The city park has back-hoe digger things. 3. There is a little rock shop/dinosaur bone shop, and the guy actually has reassembled a few dinosaur femurs in his shed in the back. No joke. There are three dinosaur femurs in the shed out back, he hasn't sold them to museums and made tons of money, they are just in the shed. It was really cool. They were from the Apatosaurus, or the former Brontosaurus.




Since William has mastered the use of my cell phone, the DVD player, and the computer, he has moved on to the digital camera. He snatches it up any chance he gets, and takes many pictures. Then, when I am ready to download my pictures, I get a TON of random ones like these. For example, today I was loading the pictures into the computer and there were a hundred pics, at least 30 of them were from Will. Some were even of his underpants, don't ask, I am not sure what he was doing. But he is a 3 year old boy. I will save you from putting those on my blog though, and go with some of the safer ones.






On monday morning, we went to Goblin Valley. This was Labor Day and there were only 3 other cars in the parking lot. It was early like 9 a.m. but not THAT early. It was nice and cool though and we had a good time. Will was a little scared at first climbing around with Daddy...


But then he let Daddy swing him really high, just as long as he didn't let go and launch him off a gobln.


Then we had a great game of hide-and-seek.




Some of these pics turned out really nice. We have been to Goblin Valley twice this year, and Will has been there 3 times already and he is only 3. I think we need to start camping in a new spot. Although it is such a fun place to take kids.




This one reminds me of a Thailand temple or something.


William got tired quickly and we headed back to the car before it got too hot. Also, we were trying to make it back to Hanksville without either boy falling asleep in the car so we could all take a nap at the hotel. Jason has been working so hard, working all night long and sleeping during the day, he was and still is exhausted and needed the nap too.


Well, it worked and we all had a long nap. Then we did Jason's laundry at the laundromat, saw the dinosaur femurs, ate some tasty cinnamon rolls at the Luna Mesa Cafe in Caineville, (a hippy organic farm, but cute and with TASTY cinnamon rolls), and headed home around dinner time, right as Jason was leaving to go film all night long. We drove home the Torrey way, a little longer, but much more scenic. It was a fun trip.

Now we are home, and the only interesting thing to report is that we got a new dishwasher! It is white, and looks way better in the kitchen than the old black one did. And it actually washes dishes, a miracle, I know. It really works well! I am so excited and might actually DO the dishes in a more timely manner now. I understand why the dishwasher was invented now. It does make life a little easier. The old one worked like this: wash dishes by hand, don't really rinse them, just half way rinse them, load into dishwasher, so they can be washed again and rinsed. The new one works like this: rinse chunks of food off dishes (if you want to) and load, and turn on, and voila, the dishes are DONE! No soap residue either! I am a happy woman!

SICK KIDS...

We are SO sick of being sick! William has been sick since last tuesday (yeah, 10 days now) and Rowen has had an ear infection and now is sick like William, but only started yesterday. I don't really enjoy cleaning up vomit. Although, breastmilk is much better than food, if you have to reverse the flow. Changing diapers with lets say, intestinal distress, is not very much fun either. I feel like I have been washing bedding for 10 days, oh wait, I have been. At least I am not puking too. But I do have a sore throat! Aaaaagh! We can't wait to get better!!! The pediatrician said this is lasting about 7 to 12 days. So at the most I have 10 more days to go until Rowen gets better. That would make the whole entire month that Jason is gone devoted to being sick. That sucks.

Missing Daddy...

William misses his daddy. Jason is filming a movie in Hanksville Utah. He will be gone until September 10th. We all miss him a lot, but especially Will, whenever he gets in trouble, he really really misses his dad. He says "I want my dad!" We are going to try to post to the blog everyday or almost, so that Jason can see the kids.

Today the boys went to play with Jess in Kamas while I worked for a couple of hours. I also got my entire TO DO list DONE!!!! In one day!!! That hardly ever happens! I love the feeling of checking stuff off my to do list. Other than that, they napped on the way home from Kamas in the car, and then we were all hot and sweaty, so the kids took a bath early and ever since they have been running around the house in diapers, well, except Will takes his off and prefers to run in the buff. Hopefully I can get a shower in tonight too! OOOH the luxury of a shower.

I also discovered today that Rowen is teething, again. He is cutting the next two top teeth and they are already almost through! No wonder he has been chewing on his fingers a lot the past couple of days!

I must be slow...

I haven't posted in weeks. I guess I am slow. I have been really busy the past few weeks, watching my sister's kids, working some extra little side jobs and watering some extra plants. So I have no really good pics to post, really no pics at all. So what I have been up to is just trying to relax with my kids and let them make messes (and learn to clean them up) and make mistakes. I think I try to have my hand in too much of what they do, and then I have to say NO too much. If I just let them do and be and try to teach them along the way, I dunno, it seems better that way. So, I am sick of yelling at them, and losing my temper, and am trying to find a better way. I am trying to enjoy them and every moment I have with them. I went to a funeral recently for a friend's 18 month old son. I really need to watch it and remember to enjoy being a mom. I also noticed that I am meaner to my kids than I would ever be to any kid I am ever babysitting. I know I have mine 24/7 and babysit only temporarily, but I think it's just that I have an emotional investment in how my kids turn out, or how they act in public, or how I think they should be. But part of that seems healthy and part of it seems to me like I said before, trying to control how they do everything, like eat. I think I'd rather clean up the mess than tell them to eat with spoons, or better yet, punish or yell because they use their hands. Obviously I am talking about a toddler here more than a baby, really with all this.

It's just amazing how kids tend to teach you things about yourself you never wanted to know.

Well, so let me think of some cute things they did recently.

On my birthday William climbed up into my bed and we were talking about birthdays, I asked him if he was almost 3. He said yes, I am almost 3, I am only 2, but I am getting older every day. I don't know where he got that one from, but it sure is cute.

Will still says "Helpichocker" for helicopter. It's still my favorite toddler mispronunciation. And he thinks that ring around the rosies says "talk to the posies" instead of "pockets full of posies". Sometimes I want to teach him the right way to say things and other times it's too darn cute to let him mispronounce things and sing funny songs too.

Rowen is quickly trying to learn to walk. He can now stand up in the middle of a room by himself. AAAAAGH!!!!! Here we go! He also growls (I think Will taught him this!) and says lots of cute "dada, ada, aaaaaa" sounds.

I haven't yet made it up to Albion Basin this year to see the flowers. I hoped it'd be my birthday tradition to go up there, but haven't gotten around to it. It's my goal to go next week sometime. Then I'll have lots of pics to post. :)

A milestone...

The day before the camping trip I ran some camping stuff down to my mom so she could pack it for me since my car was too small. We were at her work when Will announced, "I am almost poopy". I figured out what he was saying and we RAN to the potty where he for the first time without being asked/forced did his #2 thing. Hopefully it is a milestone that will repeat itself, over and over, and very soon. Hasn't yet repeated it, it's been almost a week. But someday, I know he will be potty trained! I have never heard of a kid in college in diapers. :)

Jacob Family Camping Trip

Last week from thursday to sunday, me and the kids (not Jason, had to work...like usual. :( ) went with my siblings and their kids, my mom and her kids (foster step-grandchildren) to "Forks of Huntington" campground. It was so beautiful there and we had a great time. There were only two downsides I can think of... deer flies, and COWS, yep, cows, them and their poop were all over the campground. We had to chase them away. But once we did get to witness a mama cow and her calf who got separated, the calf was on a big hill and the mama right by our pit toilet bathrooms, they called to each other and the baby ran down the hill, a pretty steep one too, and then he started nursing. The mama walked away and the baby nursed while walking, then they stopped and nursed for a good 10 minutes right by our camp. It was really cute. The boys did great, Will had a great time with his cousins. Not one time out the whole weekend! YIPEE!!! Rowen loved it too, but not that I didn't let him crawl around too much. He did get a few chances to crawl and ingested a couple handfuls of dirt each time. Minerals. Each family was responsible for a meal, and everyone brought a snack or dessert to share, it worked out great! Both Will and Rowen napped so wonderfully on the trip, Rowen for 2-3 hours each time, and Will for 2. But they also got off their regular sleep schedules, I am still working on fixing that! But they don't nap at the same time anymore. :(


One night I was trying to wear Will out, so I made him walk up to Jess' campsite, which was oh, less than a quarter mile I would say. He said, "I don't like walking, I like sitting, and laying down." It was really funny. He wore himself out everyday playing in the river with Joey. Will's cousin Adam made a great "swimming pool" in the river, it was perfect for the little kids to play in. Will spent the whole day in there and playing in the dirt with his tractor and monster truck. We learned the hard way that a dirty swimsuit when dry, turns to hard sandpaper like material and chafes the inner thighs. Add to that a diaper rash, and you get Will, running around in just a shirt after a while.


That picture is great blackmail for when he is older!


Will loves throwing rocks in the river to see the splash!


Rowen even got some river time one day while Will napped.


On Saturday, I was napping with Rowen for a little bit, and my mom decided to give Will a bath in the river, complete with soap and everything. Then literally, five minutes later, I snapped this picture:


I even got adventurous and tubed the river with Ginger 3 times, and then with Ingrid once. I was surprised just how fun it was.



On the way down with Ingrid, Aspen followed us into the river and into the rapids. She eventually got scared and climbed out onto the bank and ran to follow us instead. A smart idea. Then the river directed us into some very prickly bushes, so I put out my foot to push off of them, and capsized into the river. My hat stayed on. I was happy I didn't hit a rock with my head, and that Ink didn't let go of my tube. Other than some water up my nose, I came out unscathed.

Aspen was a good dog the whole trip. She was mellow and listened and didn't fight at all with Ada and Rodelle. (My sister Jess's dogs). I even brought a muzzle in case she did fight with them, once a long time ago she fought with Rodelle and bit through her arm. So, I took the neccesary precautions. She didn't bug any kids, bark too much, or anything. I am so glad I took her with us. She had a great time swimming in the river, or laying in it, to cool off!


We had a great time and can't wait for next year, the 2nd annual immediate-family reunion. The idea came from going to the extended family reunions with 2nd and 3rd cousins and not knowing anyone, we decided it would be more fun to spend time with just our siblings. For now, we all still live nearby and see each other relatively frequently, but who knows what will happen in the future and hopefully we will all keep coming camping.

The Joys....

OF KIDS...

Yesterday we were driving in the car, and saw some tree cutter guys cutting trees that were interfering with the power lines. After a few "why's" from Will and an explanation in two year old terms of power lines and electricity, he says "Mom, trees are pecial, birdies live in them." That was soooooo cute!

The day before, an almost but not quite so cute thing he did was find a black crayon and draw "train tracks" all over the kitchen table.



Thank heaven for magic eraser. We actually used it one time to get permanent sharpie off a door at a house I was house sitting. I was amazed. A must with kids. It was the same house that Will climbed out of the crib at and broke his arm. He was 1 and a half. Oh boy.

Also, the joys of HOME OWNERSHIP....

Last fall, our sprinklers worked fine. This spring, nada. So after a whole handful of days trying to figure out what the problem was, Jason and his dad, worked all day yesterday and replaced all the valves (at least 3 times) and then the pipe going into the house exploded in Jason's face! Nearly missing him and escaping injury. So, they replaced that too. And replaced a bunch of other crap, and last night...we heard angels singing, no wait, it was just the "chick, chick, chick" sound of the sprinklers watering the lawn! Just in time to save our grass from complete annihilation!



We are leaving in the morning for an immediate family reunion camping trip that is going to be SO much fun! If I can ever figure out how to fit all my stuff I need to bring into my trunk of my car! We are so excited and need the vacation so so bad!

The 4th of July

I know I am a few days behind....but hey, I am trying... I LOVE the 4th! I tell my friends that in my family the 4th is almost bigger than Christmas. We all get together and have a great time (thanks Ink!). It is a holiday that is getting more and more sentimental to me as I grow up. Each year, this one especially, more so than the last. When my niece Emma gave a passionate recitation of the Gettysburg Address, I cried for about 10 minutes. I couldn't stop. I am so so grateful to live in America, to have the freedom to do and be whatever I choose. I feel obligated to not only enjoy my freedoms, use them to the fullest, but also be responsible and grateful to those people who died for me to have the opportunity to have a big barbeque with my family and celebrate that very independence. It sounds silly but the ability to celebrate freedom seems to me like the biggest freedom of all, and just the opportunity to think and believe and celebrate what I want, while I was thinking of the brave people who lost their lives (particularly in the Revolutionary War) to give me that chance, it just got me....right there. Here is a picture of me and the boys on the morning of the fourth. Jason was at work, a very common thing....but did make it later to the bbq just in time for my camera battery to die.



Rowen is the champ of this particular holiday, he had a high fever, teething and also a common childhood illness, Roseola. He now has a rash, that is fading already after only one day. Roseola is a high fever for a couple days, then it goes away, then the rash appears, and goes away, and that's pretty much it. Other than Tylenol, there is no treatment needed. Poor guy. He was just miserable that day. And is still teething by the way.

Rowen's first swim...

This is actually Rowen's second time swimming, the first time we forgot the camera. My niece Shannon, me and the boys went to St. George to film this year's Peer Court Conference, and the boys loved swimming. They also loved the bathtub (we don't yet have one at home, just a shower). Rowen LOVED swimming although you can't quite tell from the look on his face in the picture...



William loves swimming too!