4th of July Weekend!

I feel like we have just been so crazy busy and my posts are always catch-up posts. I also haven't been as faithful of a blogger lately because of the fact that I don't have the den to cozy up in at the computer. A problem that (fingers crossed) will shortly be remedied. We did a lot of work on the den this weekend. It was not a relaxing long weekend, but we still squeezed in plenty of Independence Day fun.

Friday night we started texturing the den. At 11pm I called it a night and went to bed. Ian kept at it until he had used up the rest of the mud. By morning we were out of mud (necessitating yet another Home Depot run), but only had one wall left to texture, so it should have gotten done pretty quickly, but I kept getting distracted by the kiddos. Weston wasn't feeling good and fell asleep on the couch. I moved him to his bed and he slept for about an hour. When he woke up he had a fever and was crying that his stomach hurt. I kept waiting for him to throw up, but he didn't. I sat with him and rubbed his feet for a little bit, then went back to help in the den. Needless to say it goes faster with two people working.

Sickie Weston napping at 11am. Never a good sign.

Textured walls

We finished up the texture just in time to clean up the backyard for our BBQ and take showers. It was an absolutely perfect day for BBQing. 76 degrees, sunny, breezy. Just gorgeous. We had a yummy BBQ with our friends, the Severinsen's. The only bummer was that their little girl fell off our retaining wall and got a pretty huge bump on her head. It was sad. She bounced back fairly quickly though.

We went to Murray Park for fireworks after the BBQ. We got there around 7pm and had to wait until 10pm for the show to start. Luckily there is plenty to see and do at the park. We took turns taking the kids for walks, but mostly we just hung out in our spot and snacked and visited. Weston started to fade around 9pm. I wrapped him up in a fuzzy blanket on the grass and he fell asleep. We woke him up for fireworks. Davin did not like the loud noise of the fireworks and made me keep my hand over his non-snuggled-up-to-me ear the whole time. It was a late night, but luckily the kids slept until 8:30 on Sunday. Hooray!
Sunday afternoon we ended up BBQing with our bishop's family. We had stopped by to check on their wood floor project and ended up spending the evening grilling hot dogs, eating fabulous watermelon, doing sparklers, and playing with a potato gun. Poor Davin burned his thumb on his last sparkler of the night. He also hadn't had a nap, so he had a bit of a meltdown when we left. It was a really fun way to spend the 4th.

After we got the kids in bed that night we taped up the ceiling, windows and doors. Monday morning we painted. In between coats of paint we took the kids to the Gateway to play in the fountain. Ian got to go play with the new iphone at the Apple store too. When we got home I was exhausted and took a nap while Ian gave the front door a fresh coat of paint. When I got up we painted the second coat on the walls. As soon as we finished I went and took a shower and got ready for my girl's night out!

After the 1st coat of paint

After the 2nd coat of paint. Can you even tell it's painted? I think it looks very nice!

I got to have dinner last night with 6 other girls from my Freshman year at BYU. Most of them had been my roommates at some point too. It was so fun to all get together and catch up on everyone's lives. There were a few of us locals, but the others were in town from Philidelphia, Seattle, Phoenix, and Vegas. We had a great time!

Liz, Sarah, Tara (due August 10th with baby #3), Alexis (due September 1st with baby #2), me (due December 8th with baby #3), Katie, and Heather
Taylor Hall alumni 2001-2002

All in all it was a great weekend. We got to spend time with friends, get lots of work on the den done, and sleep in a little. It was also exhausting. I'm going to need the next couple days to recover before we start on the next phase of the den renovation: tile entry.

Ahh Payday

If you're anything like me you look forward to pay day. The morning the money is in the account I hop online and pay the bills for the next two weeks. Today I also grocery shopped. I mean marathon grocery shopped. We hit up Walmart for non-perishables then headed to Winco for their sweet coupon deals and cheap produce (I got a seedless watermelon for $2). After that we had to drop by home to put away the groceries that needed to be kept cold.

Next up was Davin's haircut. I wasn't planning on doing that today, but I had a Great Clips coupon that was expiring, so I just slipped it in there. He did so much better than he has in the past! No crying at all. He did hunch his shoulders every time the clippers touched him, but his hair got cut and he got a sucker and all was well. We grabbed some lunch then made a quick last stop at Sam's Club. I only buy a few things at Sam's normally, but today I really only had 4 items on my list. All cheapest at Sam's though. We lucked out with tons of samples too. We barely made it home in time to catch Elmo's World on Sesame Street before nap time. Whew!

I had to lay down during quiet time. I am debating about cleaning my house. The floors are a mess, but I know they will look just as bad 12 hours from now even if I clean them. That's so depressing. I think I'll wait to vacuum until after we clean up the backyard and are done coming in and out. Then the house will at least look nice until morning.

Yesterday I got a babysitter and picked Ian up from work for a lunch/carpet shopping date. It was really fun. We went to this random Leatherby's in Midvale that serves really good Mexican food. I had a fajita chicken taco and two different tamales. Yum. We also got a scoop of ice cream there. We found a couple affordable carpeting options and I think we are going to end up going with the basic berber. I think it will just suit our needs in that room the best even though it's not the prettiest carpet. Plus we can get the carpet, pad, and installation for around $350. Pretty good price.

Today Ian is coming home early and I think we will head to Home Depot with our carpet swatch to pick out paint and tile for the entry. This long weekend's den agenda is to sand down the second coat of mud, texture the walls using the remaining mud, then paint. Hopefully middle of next week we will be laying the tile and scheduling the carpet installation! It's all coming together! I can't wait for it to be done!

We also will throw a BBQ with some friends in there tomorrow and an awesome fireworks show at Murray Park. Happy Independence Day weekend!

Swing Set!

Last Monday for FHE we went and bought our first swing set. We decided to go with the basic, small one since we don't plan on bringing it with us when we move in the next few years and our kids are pretty little (as is our backyard). It was a great deal. We got a $50 Walmart gift card from Ian's new dentist for being a new patient, combined with the $45 we got from selling our Little Tikes climb and slide on KSL, so we only ended up paying about $35 out of pocket for the new set!
Last night after FHE we went out in the backyard and started setting it up. By the time it was dark we had finished. The kids had to go to bed before we had finished, so this morning they were super excited to go out and play on it. I taught Davin how to climb up the slide ladder, but he still needed a hand to go down. Within the first 20 minutes Weston had already fallen off the swing twice. Apparently he needs some practice, but I'm sure he'll be pro by the end of the summer. This afternoon Davin figured out that he can do the slide without holding anyone's hand, so that's good news.
This morning we went to Toys R Us to buy a baby swing for Dav. Ian just got home and put it up for us, so tomorrow we will do some more swinging. On the way home from our errand Weston asked if they could play on the playplace when we got home. Can you guess his favorite place to eat lunch?

I also just wanted to post these pictures I took on Saturday of Ian and I working in the den. Before we could start the second coat of mud we had to sand down the first coat so that it was smoother. It was a dust mess!
Later this week Ian and I have a long lunch date planned so that we can go carpet and tile shopping. Can't wait to have the den finished!

The Pool

I mentioned in my last post that we got our pass to the local recreation center on Saturday. It includes unlimited use of the pools. And the pools are really cool. This year is the best so far for taking the kids. They are both fairly independent. Especially Weston. Today he climbed all over the play structures (one of which is shown in the above photo) and did all the slides by himself. I stayed with Davin in the zero entry area and kept an eye on Weston from there. Davin's favorite is the splash pad on the right side of the photo. We set up our chairs under the giant blue and white striped umbrella and took a water/fruit snack break there.

Today we had friends join us for the first hour of pool time. After they left we randomly met up with some other friends from Weston's swimming lesson class. We ended up staying at the pool for 2 1/2 hours today. It was so fun! I love the warm weather and being at the pool! I'm debating about going again tomorrow when the temps are supposed to be almost 100. We'll see. I am just so glad that we got a pass so we can go as much as we want!

Visits, Farms, Parades, and More!

This has been a busy week for the entire Bowles household. Ian spent the whole entire week working. And I do mean the entire week. I think we had him home for a few waking hours, but that's it. He was gone most of our sleeping hours too. Sheesh.

On Wednesday our sister-in-law Emilee and baby Ivy flew into town. Their primary purpose was to spend some quality time with Emilee's family in Provo, but we picked them up from the airport in the morning then got to spend the afternoon visiting until Emilee's sister came to pick them up and take them to Provo.

We went straight from the airport to pick up Ian and go to lunch. We ended up at In N Out. It was a warm, breezy day, so we ate outside. The boys got hats and ran around and goofed off with french fries.
After lunch we went home and relaxed. Weston did a puppet show for us. The main players were Barnacle Bart and Harrison the frog. They are best friends apparently. Davin joined in for the very end.
Davin and Ivy bonded while watching some Sesame Street.
During Davin's nap Ivy cuddled with her mommy for a little nap, so Weston and I went in his room and did some puzzles. Weston can do every single one of these puzzles all by himself. I only helped a little because otherwise I was bored. He is also very into taking pictures. Every day during Davin's nap he asks if he can take some pictures. His action figures are most frequent subjects, but occasionally he does a self portrait or two.
We had a very nice visit with Emilee and Ivy. I'm so glad that they could spend the day with us.

Thursday was Davin's ear tube surgery follow up appointment. The office is downtown, so it's a bit of a drive. The ENT pronounced his ears perfect and the whole appointment only took about 3 minutes. I decided we may as well do something fun while we were downtown, so we drove over to the Gateway and I let the kids play in the fountain again.

Friday I was in a crappy mood. Ian had stayed at work Thursday to work late on this same project. Usually I wake up at some point in the middle of the night to pee and discover he is home. Friday morning I woke up at 6:30 with Davin and Ian wasn't home. I fully expected him to work until about 10ish tying up loose ends then come home and sleep. Nope. He ended up working a full day. Boo.

In the meantime I dragged the kids to free lunch at the park just to get out of the house. It was hot. Like my car said it was 100. The actual high was 97 I think, but still. And it was windy. This did not improve my mood. We didn't stay long. We came home and I put the kids down for naps. Weston didn't go to sleep, of course, but I needed the quiet time.

When everyone woke up we headed to Thanksgiving Point to meet up with some friends. It was still hot, but the kids had a blast playing with the indoor exhibits and having pony rides.



When we were done we grabbed some dinner and drove over to my friend Jackie's uncle's house. It is right on the Lehi Round Up Days parade route. They had our spot all staked out. It was so much fun! We were in the shade. We had chairs right on the street. The kids had a spot on the curb in front of us. And my boys were in heaven. Lots of the parade floats and cars threw out candy and we ended up with a bag full. Davin was especially enthusiastic about all the floats, bands, cheerleaders, and, of course, the candy. You'd think my kids had never done anything fun in their lives. Here are a couple videos of the kids enjoying the parade. I think we'll have to make this little parade a tradition.

When we got home from the parade Ian was finally home and in bed. Luckily he finished the project, got positive feedback from the client, and has been home enjoying the weekend with us. Yesterday we got the second coat of mud done in the den. It went a lot faster than the first coat. And lucky for us it wasn't quite as hot as it was Friday. When we finished working we ate dinner then we all went to the pool for the first time this summer. It was fabulous. It felt so good to lounge out in the sun. Weston was a fish. He went on all the slides by himself and did not want to leave. Good thing we got a pass because I have a feeling he is going to want to go to the pool every day. :)

Happy Father's Day!

*I just love this picture of my boys so much! It's perfect for Father's Day!

Last week Ian took on a rush project at work, so he worked a lot. He ended up working until about 3am Friday night, but we went and had dinner with him at the park and played. Saturday we lost a day on the den since Ian had to go back to the office. In the late afternoon the boys and I took a pizza to his work and ate dinner with him then kidnapped him to see Toy Story 3. It was so great! We all loved it. Both the boys sat in their seats enthralled the whole time. The last 15 minutes made me cry. I highly recommend you take your kids and see it!

We had to take Daddy back to work after the movie, but he got to be home with us all day Sunday. We cooked him eggs and toast for breakfast then let him open his presents. The kids get so excited when there are presents involved for anyone. I let Weston pick out a present for Dad this year and he couldn't wait to watch Dad open his new wallet.

I baked a Father's Day cake, so we had some dessert after breakfast. Yum. By then we had to get going to make it to 12:30 church on time. :) Church was nice. The kids colored a World's Best Dad certificate for Ian. Weston sang in Sacrament meeting with the primary while I played. Our ward was empty, so there were only about 8 kids. They were still cute though. Sunday afternoon Daddy got to hang out in his hammock and talk ipods with his dad. We had grilled steaks, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob for dinner. It was a pretty great day. I sure hope Ian enjoyed it.

This morning I had a doctor's appointment. I finally got to hear this baby's heartbeat! I always like that. I also got to schedule the 20 week ultrasound. That's always exciting. It's not until next month though, so still a bit of a wait. I'm pretty positive this baby is another boy, but I guess we will know for sure soon enough.

I am doing some Monday cleaning and laundry. It seems like the house is always a wreck by the end of the weekend. Today I actually worked up the motivation to mop the kitchen. It was getting really bad. The motivation probably came at least in part by the fact that my sister in law, Emilee and baby Ivy are coming to visit us on Wednesday. But having the kitchen floor clean makes me feel better about my life in general.

Last but not least I had to post this silly picture of Weston wearing his "bath suit." He is such a goof! Davin tried to put on the same things, but he couldn't manage to keep them on long enough for a picture.

Summer Reading

I have decided that Weston is big enough to start reading chapter books with me. We started with our freebie book from the Borders Summer Reading program, Flat Stanley. At first glance Weston said he didn't want that book because it didn't have pictures, but once I explained that's how big boy books are he thought it was cool. We started and finished it that same day. Since then we have gotten two other Flat Stanley adventure books from the library and have finished them both.

Last week I ordered a bunch of Roald Dahl paperbacks for Weston and I to start reading. They were on clearance HERE for $1.77 each. When they came Weston was so excited. He put them in the order that he wanted to read them. We started Charlie and the Chocolate Factory first. We have read at least a chapter or two before nap and bed every day since. It is so fun! I love reading a more epic tale. Weston really seems to enjoy the books and remembers what has been happening. Next up on our Roald Dahl reading list is James and the Giant Peach. Then The BFG, and finally The Witches. I might have to save that one for a few years though. I recall it being a little scary.

As for myself . . . I have been reading Suzanne Collins' Underland Chronicles. They are fun, quick, imaginative reads. I think I only have one left after I finish the current one I'm reading. It always makes me laugh that the adult summer reading program through our city only requires you to read 4 books the whole summer. I'm pretty much done with the entire program already. :) I need something to read when I finish the Underland books, so . . .

What are you reading this summer?