Soccer, bike rides, mini-golf and other death defying feats

Soccer
It is finally nice weather in Iowa, and we are enjoying it to it's fullest. Ammon just finished a soccer clinic at the YMCA. He did great! Carter wanted go out and play with the other kids and occasionally, if we didn't think he would get run over, we would let him.


Stretching out before the clinic. Notice Carter is out there with his own little ball.


Ammon waiting in line to shoot a goal.

Bike Rides
We have lots of trails around us that are great for biking, running and walking. Ammon loves to go out and ride bikes with his friends.


Cannon and Ammon smile for the camera.


Mini-golf
On Monday, we went mini-golfing for Family Home Evening. The boys had a blast! Carter would hit the ball once, then go pick it up and put it about 2 inches away from the hole. No matter how many times Colby tried to show them how to hold the club, they couldn't quite remember!




Other Death Defying Feats
We have decided that Carter is a four year old trapped in a two year old body. He frequently does things that amaze (and scare me). This is his latest trick and no matter how many times he does it, I still get scared every time.

Kids say the darndest things

Ever since I posted about the terrific twos, I have been noticing the funny little things that my kids say and do. I want to share a few of my favorites with you....

The other night as I was making dinner, Ammon wanted me to go upstairs and play with him. I told him that I was making dinner and I would come up as soon as I was finished. He replied, "Mom, why can't we ever go eat at a restaurant where the food is already made?"


Last week, our playgroup got rained out and we relocated to the Mcdonald's playground. The boys asked me repeatedly if they could get toys with their food and I told them we weren't going to get Happy Meals, just cheeseburgers. Carter asked me one more time if he could get a toy and Ammon turned to him and said, "Carter, we are not getting Happy Meals today, we are getting Mad Meals- because I am mad that I don't get a toy."


One morning, Carter asked if he could have a cookie for breakfast. Of course I told him no, but if he ate all his oatmeal, he could have a cookie for snack time. He pointed his little finger at me and said, "Mom, that's not your decision."


One day after the boys had been fighting (and Carter had scratched Ammon), Ammon said to me, "Mom, I love Carter every day, but when he does mean things to me I only love him a little bit."

Carter was in trouble (I can't remember what he did) and I was putting him on time out. On the way upstairs he looked at me and said, "Mom, I'm just a little boy."

The boys are so much fun, they are constantly making me laugh. They do funny things like this every day, and these are the only ones I can remember for now.

Official Sunday Attire

Every Sunday after church Ammon comes home and changes his clothes. Every week he puts on the same outfit. Fuzzy black pants, striped green shirt and navy blue slippers, every week. Today Carter was asleep in their bedroom so Colby went in and got Ammon's clothes. He picked out the same fuzzy black pants, but with a grey t-shirt. After we had come downstairs, Ammon went into his bedroom and changed his shirt. The funny thing is, Ammon gets himself dressed other days of the week and puts on other clothes. Sometimes they even match. For some reason, he has chosen this outfit as his official Sunday attire.


Just to show you that Ammon does know how to dress himself, here is a picture of another outfit that he picked out. I love this outfit because it looks just like something Colby would wear (other than the bright green shirt). Cargo shorts, t-shirt, baseball hat and flip-flops. Like father, like son.

Obsessions

I was tagged by Karin to list 5 things that I am obsessed with. Karin, sorry it has taken me so long- sometimes I feel like I post sooo much that people get sick of it. Because Karin tagged me (and claimed that I would do it) I can't let her down. Here you have it, 5 things that I am obsessed with (in no particular order).

1- Grey's Anatomy- Thursday nights will never be the same. I love Greys. If you haven't seen it, it is like ER meets Days of our Lives, but even more entertaining than you could imagine.

2- My boys- I love all 3 of my boys. Sometimes I tell Colby he is like having another kid, but I really do like taking care of him too. Although I don't share Karin's sentiment that a trip to Target is painful without them, (I prefer to shop kid-free), I do love to take the boys to the park, on walks, swimming, to the zoo, you name it.

3- Exercising- Right now I am running, but I kind of go through phases. If I don't get my morning workout in, I am grumpy. It is very essential "me time." (see #4)

4- "Me time"- Now, remember #2, I love my boys and I love to do things with them. That said, I also love to do things without them. I need to have time to myself everyday to do whatever I want to do. This usually occurs during naptime or between 8 and 11 pm at night. It doesn't matter if I am cleaning, reading or watching TV, I feel like a much better Mommy if I can do it (whatever it may be) for an hour a day w/o my kids.

5- This is a tough one, it's a tie between cleaning and icecream. I don't love cleaning, but it drives me nuts if my house is a mess. Thus, I am obsessed with cleaning it. Icecream I could eat 3 times a day. I love it.

Potty training update

Carter is doing great! He was more excited about his new underwear than he was about actually sitting on the potty, but he has gotten a lot better. Here he is showing off his Lightning McQueen underwear.



Carter saying "Cheese."





Carter and all his buddies on the potty. Doesn't he have a cute little face?


This isn't really a potty training picture, but I thought it was cute. The boys got their Summer buzz cuts early this year- wishful thinking I guess.

Terrific Twos and Potty Training

I was reading through my last couple of posts and it sounds like I have a very negative outlook on motherhood (which is not true). So I wanted to post all the things that are great about my kids.

I love that Carter uses big words (well, big for a two year old) like because, I'm pretending, I have an idea and it's my favorite and quotes movies (he says, "hit the road bucky," from Emperor's new groove, "To infinity and beyond," from Toy Story and "Cachow," from Cars).

I love that Ammon randomly gives me hugs and says, "Mom, I sure love you."

Today after I gave Carter fruity Cheerios for breakfast he informed me that Lightning McQueen was sad because he didn't have any fruity Cheerios. I proceeded to get a bowl of Cheerios for Lightning to which Carter said, "Mom, Lightning doesn't want Cheerios in a bowl, he wants them in a Piston cup."

I love that Ammon carries around little toys and gadgets everywhere. His most recent is a small plastic snake that he named popcorn.

I love that Carter likes to play with my hair when he's tired.

I love that my kids are in bed by 8 pm.

I love that Ammon tells everyone that he is 4, he is a really good swimmer and he plays soccer.

I also wanted to include this video because I think it is so dang cute. For those of you wondering, I have committed to potty train Carter starting tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.

Easter Weekend

On Saturday, we went to the ward Easter egg hunt. The boys had a great time. (and yes, it is still cold enough for hats and coats!)



Notice that they are using Walmart bags rather than Easter baskets- our Easter baskets were lost in the abyss of our garage and it took me a couple tries to find them.


Sunday we got together with Campbells and Bombstas for Easter dinner. It was great! We had ham, funeral potatoes, biscuits and jello eggs. I love this picture because Carter and Colby are both so mad! (Carter because he wanted apple juice and Colby because I was trying to take another picture).


Here are my boys all ready for church! Don't they look handsome?


Me and my boys.


Ammon is growing up so fast! I think he looks so mature in this picture.


Carter getting all ready for church (meaning he is gathering up his cars, which he tries to tote around everywhere with us).

I have so many pictures of my boys sitting on our bed, I really need to find a more scenic place to take their picture. I don't know why they always end up on my bed!


This video isn't terribly exciting, but I thought it was really cute. Notice what a good big brother Ammon is, he is always helping Carter and looking out for him. I think it's really sweet.

Getting Older

When I was younger, my Mom always made a big deal out of birthdays. Big party, cute cake, lots of presents and balloons. Naturally, I tend to do the same thing with my kids. I've never had the desire to throw myself a party or bake myself a cake, but I do little things to spoil myself. I always take off work for my birthday, I refuse to do laundry and I eat a big piece of cake without feeling guilty. This year I stayed in my pajamas until noon, I went to lunch with some friends (and my boys of course!) and I let Ammon eat a whole can of chunk pineapple for breakfast (because it was my birthday and I wasn't in the mood to fight him). It was shaping up to be a pretty nice day when both of my kids fell asleep on the way home from the mall and stayed asleep when I carried them in the house. I was just getting settled and started reading my book when the doorbell rang. It was friend bringing her kids over who I had agreed to babysit (which I did remember, but conveniently forgot amid my excitement over having some quiet time.) Not five minutes later, I heard Ammon crying upstairs. I put the baby in the bouncy seat and went upstairs to get Ammon (this is when letting him eat a whole can of pineapple for breakfast totally backfired on me). He was standing at the toilet (still half asleep) and had poo running down his legs, in his pants, on his socks and shoes, on the bathroom floor (miraculously missing the rug) and somehow on the toilet itself. This was one of those moments for me when I was looking around for help and it dawned on me, "Oh yeah, I'm the mom, this is my job. I threw Ammon in the bathtub and starting cleaning up. Somewhere between rinsing diarrhea out of multiple articles of clothing, listening to Karlee screaming from the bouncy seat, Ammon screaming from the bathtub and Lysoling my bathroom I thought to myself, "Birthdays just aren't what they used to be." and then I got really homesick. Not because I thought my day would have gone any differently, and not even because of the card my Mom sent me that made me cry earlier in the day. I don't really know why, I just was.
For those of you wondering, I actually had a great day. Colby came home and rescued me. I finally got a candy thermometer (after I opened it Colby said, "I don't know why you don't have one of these, you have been asking for it for the past four years and they really aren't very expensive.") Now Ammon keeps asking me when I am going to make candy. Later in the evening, Colby and I went out to dinner at my new place of employment (which turned out to be even better because my manager told us it was "on the house"), and the kids were in bed when we got home. I would like to say to Emily (who is days away from delivering her first child) that, as is obvious from this post, once you have kids your life is never the same. But they are worth it.

Terrible Twos

When Carter throws a fit, he clinches his fists and his little bum and yells really loud. I only know the part about his little bum because last night he threw a huge fit in the bathtub because I used the wrong kind of bubble bath. He also threw a fit when I got him out because he was so busy screaming in the bath, he didn't play with his lizards. Then he cried when I put his jammies on because he wanted to wear his Lightning McQueen shirt to bed and I put on Thomas the train PJ's. I think we have officially entered the terrible twos. It's a good thing he's so cute.
Note to self: Next time skip the bubble bath.

Pretty much the best week ever!

I know this is the fourth post in two days, but we have had an exciting month. This past week was Spring break for Colby and (as the title suggests) we decided it was pretty much the best week ever. Here are some of the highlights, in no particular order....


The First Major Car Repair

Colby has never done a major repair on our car, until this week. For the past few months, Colbs car has been leaking antifreeze. It has gotten progressively worse and recently he has had to put antifreeze in every time he drives. We got a quote on the repair and it was ridiculously expensive. I was telling our friends the Bomsta's about our quote and Brandon offered to help Colby fix it over Spring break. The guys put in over 15 hours of work, and saved us a ton of money. I'm very proud of Colby and owe Brandon a big THANK YOU!




The Science Center

We drove up to Minneapolis with the Bomstas for a couple of days to see the sights! It was just over a three hour drive and it was well worth it. The Science Museum of Minnesota was very cool. The boys loved the dinosaurs, human body section and the music area.


Carter and Evelyn hang out by one of the dinosaurs.


The kids play in a tunnel. (I know Ammon's eyes look kind of freaky, but the rest of the kids looked cute!)


Colby, Ammon and Carter play on the giant Xylophone.


Buck Hill

Those of you who are skiers should get a kick out of this. When locals hear that we like to ski they always tell us that there is a ski resort a couple of hours from Iowa. Well, we passed it on our way to Minneapolis. It looked like a total man made hill and the base was right by the freeway. These pictures don't capture how small it actually was, but you will get a pretty good idea.



This is the "summit" of the ski resort, notice how you can see it from the ticket office.


These are the three lifts that the resort has to offer.


Underwater Adventures

We took the kids to the aquarium at the Mall of America. It was pretty cool. They had a lot of underwater tunnels, sharks and sting rays.


Evelyn, Carter, Brielle and Ammon by the miniature alligator.


Our two little "treasures"


This picture was actually really hard to get because the treasure chest had about a foot and a half overhead clearance. But wasn't it worth it?


Ammon and Mom in the shark tunnel. I know it's hard to see, but there is actually a shark over Ammon's head.



Carter and Bri check out the fish.

I don't have photo documentation, but we also saw the Mall of America, went on a couple kiddie rides at the amusement park at the mall and visited with my friend Angel who lives in Minneapolis. (And Angel, I was sooo glad we got together!) As all good things must come to an end, Colby will return to school tomorrow. The good news is, he only has 2 months left of school!

Real Moms...MEME

I was tagged by Karin to post something that real moms do, so here you have it.....



Real Moms drive mini-vans. I love my mini-van. Believe me, I never thought I would own a mini-van, let alone love it. Not only is it very practical, but it is also super-cool. I dare say I would even buy another one. I am tagging Kim, Marcie, Carolee and Angel. Post something that real moms do and if possible, include a photo!

Light Ma-feen party

For Carter's birthday dinner, he chose to have pizza and blue jello. Mom threw in a fruit salad to try to add some nutritional value to the meal.

Carter was very excited for his Lightning McQueen cake.

Believe it or not, this was my best attempt at getting a group photo of the guests at Carter's party. None of them were too excited about taking this picture, obviously Carter was the least interested in being in the picture.

Happy Birthday Carter

I can't believe Carter is already two! Time flies. Carter is such a fun little boy with a great personality. He always keeps us laughing. He wants to be a "big boy" so bad. In fact, if you ask him how old he is, he will tell you he is four. Here are a few fun facts about our little peanut.

Favorite movie: Cars
Favorite color: blue
Favorite cartoon: Curious George
Best friend: Ammon
Favorite meal: grilled cheese sandwiches and jello

Here is a movie I made of Carter's first year.

A Buzz Birthday Bash

This year for Ammon's birthday, I decided to let him have a friend party. He was so excited to give invitations to his friends. He wanted a Buzz Lightyear theme so we found Buzz invitations, plates and favor bags and we built rocket ships out of toilet paper rolls. When we were going over the guest list , Ammon looked at me and said, "Wow, Mom, that's a lot of friends." The kids were all great and we had a fun time.


Ammon, Cannon, Nathan, Evelyn, Caden and Louie show off their rocket ships. (They are saying, "To infinity and beyond!")z


This year I got a store bought cake (which I didn't think was as cute as the ones I make, but it was definitely easier). Originally, I was going to make a rocket ship cake but I just couldn't complete with this one that Ammon saw at Target.


The kids all gathered around to watch Ammon open presents. My efforts to be organized were futile.

All the party guests pose for a picture. I couldn't get them to all look at the camera at the same time, oh well.

Happy Birthday Ammon!

I can't believe Ammon is four years old today! Time has gone by so fast. Ammon is getting to be such a big boy. Here is a little bit more about our buddy (according to Ammon).

Favorite color: Green
Favorite food: chocolate malt o meal
Best friend: Caden and Cannon and Nathan
Favorite movie: Star wars
Favorite animal: my little puppy (cook da boo)
Favorite song: My Wish
Favorite cartoon: Curious George
Favorite toy: my Dodge Viper
Favorite letter: all the letters in my name

I made this video to commemorate Ammon's first year. I had so much fun going through all his baby pictures. Ammon is such a sweet boy and we are so grateful that he is a part of our family.

Little Mister Bacterial Conjunctivitis

Sunday night, Carter's eyes started looking really red and goobery. I took him to the doctor yesterday and discovered that he has bacterial conjunctivitis. His little eyes look so sore, but if you ask him how his eyes are doing he will say, "It doing good."


He is still our smiley, happy little buddy!


This picture isn't really related to the rest of the post but I thought it was so funny I had to post it. Carter fell asleep like this one afternoon. He is actually standing up with one leg in our blanket basket.

Some days I wish I were the daddy

It's not that I don't like being the Mom, cause most days I love it; but some days I wish I were the daddy. The daddy gets to go to work (if he has a job that is) all day and then come home and play. He comes home and wrestles and tickles the kids and gets them all wound up just in time for me to try to put them to bed. When I discipline the boys, they want daddy. If they go on time out, daddy is going to save them. He is the fun guy. I have to be the mean mommy. Last weekend, Colby came with us to the Science Center. Now, I have taken the boys to the Science center two or three times- but it was never as fun as when daddy got to go with us. Ammon had Colby by the hand leading him all over the place saying, "Dad, come look at this," "Daddy, come over here!" He was sooo excited to show Colby everything. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful that my kids love their dad; but every once in a while I think, "Some days I wish I were the daddy."

Carter, Colby and Ammon check out the snakes at the Science center.

Ammon, Colby and Carter get ready to race their lego cars.