Backyard Battles

Now that the weather is warm the kids are playing outside all afternoon. Our house seems to be the place to be. There are kids knocking on our door all afternoon! I don't really mind. I think it's fun to watch the boys play. I happened to go out back with them one day because Beckett wanted to swing and got to watch this light saber battle unfold. They even set up the patio chairs as "bleachers." After my sister (who has three girls) saw this video she texted me: "Uhhh...be careful boys! Oh watch out! Ok, let's cheer for everyone now" These are all the reasons I would be the lamest mom of boys. Shannon, you rock!

Too funny. I have to remember to bite my tongue and not constantly fuss at them because they would just go play somewhere else. Plus they don't get all upset about getting bonked or feel bad because someone wasn't cheering for them. I'm glad my kids have fun friends nearby!

Bikes

This week for family home evening we decided to all go over to the church parking lot and let the kids ride their bikes. We are working on teaching Davin to ride a two wheeler so he's currently practicing on our neighbor's balance bike. He is getting so much better and I'm sure he will get his bike figured out in time to really enjoy it this summer. Ian also brought along his long board. The kids thought that was pretty fun to ride on too. :)

Mother's Day

Being a mom is the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life. It's by far the hardest job I've ever had. It forces me to stretch to my limits. Limits of patience. Limits of exhaustion. Limits of love. I'm so far from perfect but I try every day. I am slowly learning to accept that my best efforts are enough. 

I may not (ok definitely do not) have a perfectly clean house or be crafty or know how to operate my sewing machine, but I love my kids and I try my best to give them what they need. Sometimes that means just being with them. Pushing them on the swing, walking to the park, playing Candy Land or Battleship or Yahtzee. Sometimes that means putting them in time out. Sometimes it means making them do hard things by themselves (you know like emptying the dishwasher or reading a book). Sometimes it means a snuggle and a song or a back scratch.

I pray for them, feed them, clean them, hug them, sometimes yell at them, send them to school, take them to church, take them to soccer and gymnastics and drawing. I cry for them, hold them when they cry, laugh with them (and at them cause kids are funny), shop for them, and look at pictures of them when they are sleeping. It's hard to put into words how completely they are my life, but they are.

Mother's Day is special. It's when everyone thinks about all of the things that mothers do. I am so grateful to have an amazing mother who did all of the things I do and more for me. She taught me what motherhood was all about and made me realize that I wanted to be a mom too. I always look to her example when I'm unsure. Mother's Day celebrates women and the divine gift of nurturing that we have.

Mother's Day is extra fun now that I have kids who are old enough to start understanding my role in their lives. Weston and Davin were so sweet this year. They made me super cute gifts and cards. Weston gave me coupons and "money" to use towards his back scratching and "toe massage" services. :) Ian took over some of the more mundane things I do so I could have a break. I snuck away and shopped all by myself on Saturday. I grocery shopped. But I also went to the mall and finally got myself a new purse that will work to take over the diaper bag (which after several years I have finally stopped carrying!).

Sunday morning Ian made me eggs and toast and chocolate milk for breakfast. Ian got me the best gifts! An awesome set of Oxo mixing bowls, a nice water bottle for taking with me to workout, and a beautiful hanging basket of flowers for the front porch. I have used and loved all of those gifts already! After church I got to relax and watch a movie. Ian made dinner. The kids scratched my back and massaged my toes. :) It was a really wonderful, low key Mother's Day.

The only downside to the weekend was the weather. Utah temps decided to take a nosedive back into the 40's. It was cold, rainy, windy and pretty miserable. Luckily we didn't have any outdoor activities planned except Weston's soccer game and the rain held off until later that day.

Last night I got more pampering! I got my hair done for the first time in six months. It was way overdue and I was so excited. I love my stylist, Harvest. She is so cute and really good about putting my ideas into reality. She also is cool about teaching me how to style my hair. I felt bad that it had been so long since I'd been to the salon that she had gotten married and I had no idea!

The other great thing about Harvest is that she moved to the salon at Thanksgiving Point right by my house! It's a beautiful salon. They serve me water with good ice, frozen grapes, and chocolate covered almonds. They have a separate "washing room" that is a quiet zone (only whispering allowed) with soft day spa music playing. Harvest gave me the greatest head/face massage last night too.

I did a fun multidimensional color with dark brown as the base with some of my natural color weaved out and then some caramel highlights weaved through. It's kind of ombre too. The caramel starts a little way down my hair. I love it! It's perfect for my habit of only getting my hair done every 4-6 months too. It will grow out and fade and look natural still. I also got about an inch cut off and some layers put in. Anyway, I love it and I loved the two hours I got to spend feeling pampered!

Last night styled straight

This morning styled curly

Lest you think my life is all rose colored and my kids are perfect angels . . . here are a few glimpses of recent mothering moments. Talia is in a rough spot. She's starting to give up naps. She also is 3. This happened while we were checking out at Target a few weeks ago. The picture is about 10 minutes later. Sigh.

Talia won't go to time out in a corner. It's impossible to keep her there. Sometimes I lock her in her room for time out but it's harder to monitor the time and she kicks the door and screams the whole time. Sometimes I try time outs strapped in the booster. This seems to be the best way to do it. She still hates it (which is sort of the point) but she can see the timer counting down how much longer she has to be there and if she is still screaming when the timer goes off she gets an extra minute.

Talia will turn around and be the sweetest thing telling me "Mom I wuv you so so much!" and petting my hair and doing eyelash kisses. I think most preschoolers are a little bit bipolar. Sometimes I manage to catch fleeting moments of sibling love between her and Beckett. They both thought this big box was the best toy!

I love catching my kids doing cute things when they think I'm not looking. I spotted Weston and his friend Trevyn literally marching home from scouts the other day. The linked arms were too cute. Weston didn't see me because I was in my neighbor's car on our way out.

Proud Mama

Can I just say how much I love my Davin boy? He is such a cutie. He has his own sense of self. He knows what he likes and what he doesn't and he's not embarrassed to do his own thing. He is smart and creative. He is kind and sensitive. I love him to pieces. Plus he has the best eyebrows ever. 

I loved that he was sitting watching a show like this. 

This year Davin has done awesome in Kindergarten. I get frustrated with him sometimes because he is not a self starter. I have to be right there guiding him to the next task during homework time. It's definitely different than doing homework with Weston (or should I say NOT doing homework with Weston since I rarely help him or supervise him).

For his end of the year project in Kindergarten Davin was assigned a research report on an animal. It was supposed to be an animal found in Utah that you are familiar with. He really wanted to do an eagle, but since he had never seen one and he didn't know if they lived in Utah we kept thinking. He listened to an aquarium employee talk about the desert tortoise in the Utah exhibit when we went to the aquarium a few weeks ago. He thought it was pretty interesting and picked the tortoise as his animal.

We went online and found some information about them. Davin loved this part. He had a paper he had to fill out with complete sentence answers to certain topics like "What does your animal look like?" or "What does your animal eat?" He also got to put two interesting facts of his choosing. He thought it was awesome that tortoises' shells are attached to their bodies. He also was impressed that they would dig shallow water holes and be able to find them again after hibernating for months.

The next part of his project was creating a diorama of his animal's habitat. We had fun putting it together. He loved painting the box blue and gathering sand and grass for the ground. I helped with the cacti and bushes. He did most of it though. I am so proud of him for working so hard on it. He also was very good at telling his class (and parents that came to see the projects) all the facts he had learned. It was so fun to watch him interact with the kids in his class and with parents. I'm so proud of the hard work he put in.

About a month ago Davin had a big spelling test at school. There are 25 words that Kindergartners are supposed to be able to read and spell by the end of the year. He had five spelling tests leading up to the big one. He did a pretty good job, but kept missing one or two on each test because he didn't write neatly so his teacher couldn't tell that he spelled the word right. We practiced all the words again and I reminded him to write very clearly and neatly. He brought home his big spelling test with 24/25 correct. The one his missed was "do" which he spelled "bo." He totally knew it but he still mixes us his lowercase b and d. I am so proud of him though because I can tell that he did his best with writing neatly and remembering how to spell everything.

Davin is also doing great at gymnastics! He is still kind of afraid of heights and hasn't passed off any of the high bar skills. He loves tumbling though and stretching. He is so proud of being strong and being able to do certain things like plank and bridge. He is small for his age so gymnastics is perfect for him. I did have to laugh when I came in to pick him up last week and he was lined up with his class next to this super tall kid. Love my tiny Dav!

Lastly a little video. This is my life with little boys. I'm so glad that Weston and Davin get along so well. This was while I was sitting at the table with them while Tal and Beck were napping. It cracks me up for so many reasons. The farting noises. The Nutella all over Davin's face. The fact that they had no idea I was taking a video. Enjoy!

Cinco de Mayo

Last year we had a little Cinco de Mayo party at our house with a few families in our neighborhood. It was a good time so we thought we should do it again. Turns out our friends, the Rollins', wanted to crank the fiesta up a notch. They had a Mexican restaurant bring a taco truck to their house and invited everyone in the neighborhood and from church! It was a really fun night. 

The taco truck took awhile to get set up so we got there a little before 7 and played and talked until we finally got to eat around 8. The weather had been sunny earlier but got cloudy and chilly that evening. Luckily the rain held off until later that night. Tons of people showed up for some Cinco de Mayo tacos! I would say more people were there than we usually get at a ward activity (just to be clear this was not a church sponsored event, just a neighbor sponsored one). :)

It was kind of chaotic with so many kids running around and riding around, but no one got hurt and everyone had fun. Beckett spent the entire time wandering from one ride on toy/trike to another. He was in heaven just riding around and wandering. We had to keep a pretty close eye on the end of the cul de sac to make sure he didn't make a break for the main street, but other than that Ian and I got to just chill and visit with friends.

While we were waiting for tacos the Rollins did a pinata for the kids. Weston got a ton of candy, which he was pretty good about sharing with his siblings. By the time we got home at 8:30 that night we were all pretty exhausted, but the tacos were yummy and the company was great. I sure love our neighborhood!

Beckett the Toddler

Beckett is getting big so fast and the older he gets the more opinionated and busy he is. He is still a super sweet cutie, but he has his moments of frustration when he doesn't get what he wants. He has learned how to throw fits (thanks for teaching him that Tal!) and has a pretty impressive set of lungs on him. Mostly though he just loves getting into things that he shouldn't. My closet is his favorite place. He runs in there and steals my black flats to wear around the house almost every day. He plays on the scale and pulls clothes off their hangers and shoes off the rack. Oh the joys.

He also loves brushing his teeth. Every time we go upstairs he will just stand on the stool in the kids bathroom screaming until I come in and give him his toothbrush. He wanders all over the house with it. I try to keep it upstairs, but occasionally he gets by me with it still in his mouth.

Beckett loves watching TV. I'm not super proud of this. It does come in handy though when I need him to stay busy while I shower or clean a bathroom. His favorite shows are Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Super Why. He is extra happy if he can watch his shows while snuggling his blanket.
This kid LOVES his blanket. He finds the corners and then rubs the soft edge. He also will suck on the edges a lot, which is pretty gross. I have to sneak that blanket into the laundry at least once a week, but it has to be timed so he can still have it for his nap or there is a lot of screaming and tears.

Beckett likes to push his high chair and the kitchen stool all over the kitchen and living room. It's not uncommon to find his high chair sitting in the middle of the living room or to trip over the stool on your way to the sink in the kitchen.

This is going to be a fun summer because Beckett is big enough to play on the playground equipment all by himself. He loves going down the slides and ringing the bell at our little park. He also just likes to walk. He does not want to be held or ride in a stroller. He wants to wander. He loved our trip to Farm Country last week because I let him walk the whole time.

Another favorite game right now is rolly ball. Luckily he will play this with anyone, including Talia. It's pretty cute how happy it makes him when the ball comes to him. :) I like it because it's something to distract him when he's whining for more TV and it's easy and fun.

Working out at home has become a little more difficult these days because Beckett is fascinated by my elliptical. It's dangerous though! A couple weeks ago he was wandering around the basement pushing Talia's doll stroller and I was working out on the elliptical and watching a show on the ipad. I didn't see him come too close and I crashed into the stroller. That thing crunched! After that I was so freaked out that it could have been Beckett's head that I built a little barricade to keep him on the other side of the room.  It didn't go over well, but it got me through the last 15 minutes of my workout. Sigh.

It's weird to think that Beckett is almost the same age Talia was when he was born. I remember Talia doing a lot of the same screaming for things she wanted because she didn't have very many words too. It's a rough stage for me. I'm hoping his language skills will start up sooner rather than later. As of now (20 months) he only has a few words. He says mama, dada, go, uh oh, wow, makes duck/pig noises, roars like a dinosaur, and that's about it. I just love my Beckett toddler. It's so fun to see his little personality coming out!

Gardening for Dummies

A couple of weeks ago our Relief Society had an awesome additional meeting all about gardening. The official title of the activity was Seeds of Self Reliance. It started off with a nice talk about how we each are growing in our faith and testimony just like seeds. We were given a bag of mustard seeds and a small pot to plant them in along with the scripture in Matthew 20:17 about being able to do all things if we have faith like a mustard seed. And those things are tiny! I saved the seeds and pot and used it for last week's FHE lesson on faith. 

After that there were three stations that we rotated through. The first one I went to was all about square foot gardening. My neighbor, Amanda, taught it. She has done square foot gardening for a few years now and had a lot of good information. There were also a couple of recipes we could sample including this baked veggie casserole that was good.

Next was a station about herbs and what you can do with them. There were examples of foods to make (um hello delicious herb butter!), ways to use herbs in healing, and even a recipe and example of herbed body scrub. It smelled amazing. At that station we also got to pick two herb seed packets and plant one if we wanted to. I went outside and planted some forget-me-not seeds and saved my herbs for my actual garden planters.

The last station was about container gardening and good plant pairings. This was helpful since I was planting an container garden! There were also more recipes to sample (love me some cucumber cream cheese sandwiches) and chalkboard stickers to label planters with. I snagged a few of those. I also was able to ask a few of my questions about planting.

It was a really fun night and I couldn't believe how many people helped bring things and teach. The tables all looked like they could have come straight off Pinterest. There was a whole extra table that wasn't it's own station that displayed all the fun things you could involve your kids in with gardening. My meager contribution was sharing my plant markers. :) I came home really excited to plant my garden for the first time ever!

This last Saturday we had beautiful weather. It was in the 80's and sunny and warm. I got up early and got all of my stuff planted (except my zucchini because I need one more container). It was kind of fun to put all the seeds in. Hopefully I planted things together that will work and hopefully the nice weather will stay so my plants won't freeze! I really hope my garden produces at least a little bit of stuff we can use. I'm growing broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, onions, green onions, parsley, basil, red cayenne peppers, dill, cilantro, and zucchini. I'm sure I'll be posting gardening updates as my stuff starts to sprout!