Baby Shower Cake

I made a cake for a babyshower and thought I would post it.

You want to be what?!

Our home teachers were over tonight and they were talking about looking toward the future. They asked Ethan and Courtney what they want to be when they grow up. Ethan thought for a moment and then said "FBI guy." Courtney thought for a second and said "soda-pop engineer." We all cracked up.

A few weeks ago we had a couple of priests over for dinner and one said he wanted to be an engineer. Courtney was drinking root beer and apparently put soda-pop and engineer together and decided it sounded like a good career. So when she grows up she will be a soda-pop engineer. If you hear of any openings, let us know! ;)

Dear Aunt Lisa

Happy Birthday Aunt Lisa!

Ethan's Field Trip

Ethan had a field trip today to the St. George airport and a fire station. He wanted me to go along so I took Courtney over to my parent's house for the morning. I was in charge of 4 kids. When everyone was assigned to a parent, we loaded on the bus and got ready to go. On the way to the airport, Ethan and one of his friends began singing. Soon everyone was singing. Ethan's teacher is very into singing in the classroom and the kids love it. Here's a video of them singing. The bus is pretty noisy with all the kindergarteners, but you can still hear them. The song is called "I like school and school likes me."

We were at the airport for a long time. It was planned for us to be there only about 45 minutes, but it ended up being over an hour. We rode on the baggage cart for a tour of the runway. Then we were taken through the metal detector and a man talked about airport security.

We left and went to the fire station. The fire station is one near our house so Ethan was happy to be close to home. One of the firefighters got dressed in her equipment while the kids watched so they wouldn't be afraid of a firefighter. Then the kids got to shoot the fire hose, dress in fire fighting equipment and sit in a fire engine. Ethan loved it!

Then we loaded back onto the bus and went back to the school. We were about 30 minutes late, but the kids loved it. Ethan was pretty tired when we got in the car to run and pick up Courtney. I'm glad I went because it was a lot of fun.

Cake

Here's the cake I made for Office Professional's Day for Bryan's work. It turned out pretty well.

What is he thinking?!?!?

If you know anything about Bryan, you'll know that his baseball team is the San Francisco Giants. Appparently, Ethan didn't get the memo.

Our neighbor brought over some hand-me-downs for Ethan from her 11 year old son. This morning Ethan had a nice striped shirt on and was getting ready for school when he noticed the bag. He grabbed a shirt, ran into his room and came out wearing an LA Dodgers shirt. I had to laugh and get a picture of it.

When Bryan called later in the morning, I told him what Ethan was wearing and he asked, "Didn't you screen the shirts before you let him pick one?" Apparently I'm the no-Dodger enforcer. ;) I tried to get Ethan to change saying that the shirt is too big, but he wants to wear it.

Kite Festival

We went the Annual Kite Festival this morning after we got back from camping. It was the best time of the year to have the festival because it is so windy right now. Ethan was given a reading chart at school and had been working on getting the reading minutes he needed in order to earn a kite at the Festival. So we had to run him out there so he could get his kite. This is what the sky looked like with all the kites. I'm not sure if you can see them all, but there was a time when the wind was blowing really well and the sky was filled with the kites.

They also have free games for the kids to play and they get prizes. Ethan remembered those from the last time we went to the Kite Festival, so he made a bee line toward them. He loved the throwing games and was great at them. Courtney would walk right up to the target and throw it from about 2 inches away. Everyone would laugh and give her a prize. She was exhaused but had fun.

In the picture of Ethan throwing, you can see the ball in the air right before it goes into the top hole. It's white on the red background.

Camping Videos

Courtney has a fear of dogs, but lately she has told us that she loves dogs and wants us to buy her one. Here she is at Sand Hollow when some dogs come by. Right before this she said she "loves doggies."

This next video shows Courtney throwing rocks in the lake and Ethan trying to snag litter from the lake with his butterfly net (the kid can't stand litter). You will need to turn your volume down on this one...seriously. Courtney is pretty loud!

Going Camping

We went camping this weekend. It started out shaky. We have a favorite spot in Snow Canyon that we usually go to, but this time we tried to make reservations too late and the spot was taken. I loaded the kids up, after our Church History Tour, and went out to Red Cliffs to get a camp site. But it was full. Bryan happened to call the cell phone while we were at Red Cliffs so we talked about our options. He started calling around to see if we could get in anywhere else. There were spots out at Sand Hollow Reservoir, a new man-made reservoir that they are still developing.

The kids and I went back home, had lunch, Courtney napped and then Bryan came home. We loaded back into the van and went out to Sand Hollow. The "primative camping" was basically beach camping. There was red sand everywhere, it was windy and there weren't any good spots left. After talking it over and getting really grumpy, we decided to pay extra money and go to the "developed camping" sites. They assigned us a beautiful spot overlooking the lake. It was gorgeous! We set up camp, threw rocks in the lake, ate smores and then went to bed...well, Ethan and I went to bed. Courtney was wired and wouldn't stop talking or singing, so Bryan sat outside on a camp chair with her for a long time until she was ready to sleep. He loved it because it was a full moon and he got to cuddle with his little girl.

This morning we were up early, as usual. Bryan made a wonderful breakfast and then Bryan took the kids to play by the lake while I broke camp and packed up. We made it home in time for Bryan and Courtney to help the Young Men/Young Women clean the Church.

All in all, it ended up being a great camping trip! Here are some pictures of Ethan trying to catch bugs, Courtney trying to set up the tent, Ethan and Courtney by the lake, Courtney peeking out of the tent and Ethan with the sunrise this morning.

Church History Sites

Ethan wanted to check out the Church History sites in town. Last Fall we went to Jacob Hamlin's home which is just down the hill from our house. He was impressed but was easily bored. He is out of school today so we decided to give Brigham Young's Home and the Tabernacle a try.

Courtney wasn't too interested, but Ethan was asking questions and taking pictures with his camera. He loved the mulberry tree outside. That tree is over 100 years old and in 1973 it was split in half by lightening. A tree doctor was called in to do surgery and put a rod in both sides of the tree to keep them together. Ethan took about 10 pictures of the tree.


The Tabernacle was pretty neat because it was so old...and it smelled like buttered popcorn. One of the missionaries there had popped microwave popcorn right before we got there and the smell through out the Tabernacle. Ethan loved looking at all the old seats and hearing the stories about how they raised money for the glass to come from New York and how each one of the prophets, minus Joseph Smith, has spoken in the Tabernacle at one time or another (some were apostles at the time but they still spoke there).

So we had a busy morning. Now we are waiting for Bryan to come home so we can go camping. Ethan, Courtney and I tried to find us a camping spot, but every place we checked was full. It's Spring Break in Utah County so St. George is full of people! Bryan called Sand Hollow Reservoir and was told they had some primative camp sites available, so we'll try that. I'll post pictures if it works out!

My Garden

I'm posting pictures of my garden although it's really not impressive. Last Fall I planted lettuce and peas. My peas did great. I was still picking peas around Christmas. But the lettuce never came up. A few months ago I noticed what I thought were weeds coming up in the garden boxes. The weeds ended up being lettuce plants. So that was cool. The tomato plants are all plants I bought, along with the peppers and squash. But the shallots, brocolli, watermelon and peas are all from seed, so I was pretty happy. Hopefully I'll get some food from the garden. I'm waiting for my corn to come up. Last year the corn didn't do very well, but I'm hoping for a better bunch this year.


Photo 1 is of the lettuce and zuccini. Photo 2 is of my watermelon plant. Photo 3 is of the pea and tomato plants. Photo 4 is of tomato, pepper and cucumber plants.

Flying a Kite

It was really windy at our house yesterday. I was in the backyard watering my garden when something over our house caught my eye. I looked up to see Ethan's kite flying in the air over our house. Ethan had grabbed his kite from the garage, put it together and got it in the air all by himself. He was having a great time.

When Bryan got home we decided to go to the park to fly kites. But the wind was really cold. Ethan and Courtney ended up staying in the car and fighting while Bryan and I flew kites. We had fun although we were pretty cold afterward.

The annual Kite Festival is this weekend and Ethan keeps telling me there is going to be a lot of wind for the Festival. Last year was a bust with no wind! He is excited because he gets a free kite at the Festival as a reward for reading.

Must be growing!

I think Ethan is having a growth spurt. That's all I can think of to explain all the EATING he has been doing lately. On Conference Sunday, we went to my parent's house to watch the afternoon session. After we had been there a couple of hours, my Dad said, "Doesn't he ever stop eating?" It was then that I realized that we were going through a lot of bread and Ethan started to complain about pains in his legs, which I think are growing pains.

Ethan just doesn't seem to fill up! Tonight is a great example. Bryan had a meeting that I forgot about so dinner was going to be finished later than he would need it. So it became "every man for himself" for dinner. About 30 minutes before Bryan got home Ethan had started crying that he was starving! So he ate 2 granola bars and 2 string cheeses along with a bunch of water. I thought his dinner was ruined. Then for dinner, Ethan had 6 dino chicken nuggets (which are huge) with BBQ sauce, a bunch of fresh peas from the garden (unfortnately, not our garden but the neighbor's, my pea plants are still really small because I planted them too late in the season), a package of cooked Ramen noodles, 2 peanut butter and jam sandwiches (the second one was on a hotdog bun because he has eaten all our bread) and he washed it all down with a 16 oz bottle of water. And he just came back in the kitchen wondering if we have any more food to eat. AHHH! He isn't even a teenager!

Better Than TV

We got a new clothes washer yesterday. I had a ton of laundry to do so I started right away. The kids were fascinated by the front loading washer and watched it for quite a while. It kept them busy and they didn't watch TV for the afternoon.

Cute Kids

We were playing outside yesterday afternoon. Bryan and Ethan were wearing hats so Courtney had to go inside and get a hat to wear too. The only problem is that she couldn't find her green "camping hat." She finally found a knit hat and that worked for her. And, of course, the minute Ethan saw the camera he had to make a goofy face. Kids! I never pay attention to how blue their eyes are until I see them in a photo. They definately got my eye color.

The Hammock

Ethan and Courtney got to play at Grandma and Grandpa Oman's house Friday for an hour. Courtney was napping when we had to leave our house to go to Washington City, so I had to wake her up, but I couldn't resist taking a few photos before I woke her.



When I returned to pick them up, Ethan was finishing an ice cream cone while watching Sprout TV, Courtney was swinging in the hammock with a cookie, and Grandma was dutifully swinging her back and forth. These kids have the life!! Here are some photos:

A Day in the Life of Courtney

Courtney loves clothes. Courtney loves to change her clothes. Here is a day in the life of Courtney.

Ethan got Courtney up this morning and she changed her clothes into shorts and a sweatshirt. She did a pretty good job of matching. She is eating a breakfast of dry oatmeal (her favorite). This was actually her first breakfast. Her second breakfast is after Ethan goes to the bus and is generally frozen chicken nuggets (as in, not warmed up!).

Courtney has dance class once a week so she changes into her dance outfit. It usually consists of her black leotard and tights, topped with some kind of princess dress up outfit. This is a Sleeping Beauty top along with a fairy bottom, hence the leaves on the skirt (that isn't her diaper).

After dance class, the changing begins. They are a variety of outfits, as you can see. She really doesn't bother with the weather because she wears shorts to walk Ethan to the bus stop in the morning when it's 48 degrees outside. And she hates to wear a coat! I promise that these pictures were taken all on the same day. She changes her shoes and hairband too. ;)

I was so happy when she changed into her "Parent Trap" pajamas. You would think that I have a lot of laundry to do, but I really don't. She's only in one outfit for a short amount of time and it really doesn't have time to get dirty. She also rotates through each outfit a few times a week before I wash. So it isn't bad!

What a day!

The Poor Fish

Courtney decided that Ethan's fish looked hungry. I'm not sure if the fish told her this or if she just decided it on her own. All I know is that Ethan came running out of his room, screaming that Courtney was killing his fish with food. After I got him calmed down enough to understand him, I ran into his room to see almost 1/4 of a jar of fish food floating in the water. I sent Ethan, his friend who was over to play and Courtney out of the room while I attempted to net the fish. It wasn't easy because the fish is the same color as the food and there was SO much food in the tank. I finally caught the little guy and got the tank cleaned out. Now, the fish (who's name changes each week) is back in his clean tank and we have to make a run to the pet store for more fish food.

Courtney is, almost always, singing a song and doing some kind of dance. Here's a video where she combines both talents. I'm not sure what the song started out as, but it ended up as "We Are a Happy Family."

Courtney's dance class

Courtney loves her dance class, most of the time. She loves to dress up in her princess outfits and her tap shoes. Unfortunately, unless she is running around, she wants me to dance with her. But she looks forward to going each week. This week she was Belle from "Beauty and the Beast."

Ethan pulled his tooth!

Ethan has had a loose tooth for a few months and it has really been bothering him. On Sunday, after we got home from watching Conference at my parent's house, Ethan started messing with it. He told us that his tooth was really loose. I asked him if I could see and when he showed me it was obvious that it was going to fall out quick. I told him that he should have told me sooner because my dad would have pulled it for him. He said he didn't need grandpa and proceeded to tug on his tooth. I was grossed out! After his second tug his tooth came out. He was pretty excited. He ran into the bathroom to stop the bleeding while I grabbed the camera. I will post a picture of his new smile and also the video where he tells the story of how he pulled his own tooth. He got a quarter from the tooth fairy this morning and was pretty happy for himself.

Here is Ethan playing the piano at the "Evening of the Arts." He did a great job!

Evening of the Arts

Ethan volunteered to play the piano at his Elementary School's "Evening of the Arts" last Thursday. Here is the video of him receiving his certificate and candy. The woman who gives him the candy is his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Clayton. Ethan is such a ham!

Here we go

Well, we are starting a blog. I was reluctant because I can't even keep up writing in the kids journals, but I think this may help me to keep things organized. Plus, it's hard to email video and this will make it so everyone can see our crazy kids!