Costume Parade

The grandkids all looked so cute in their costumes (except for Dane because he was a spooky dementor) that we had to go on a visiting parade. First stop was Grandma and Grandpa Allred's house.

Then we went to visit Grandpa Taylor at his office downtown.

Elphaba (Abbey), Sam (Nacho Libre), Dane (dementor), Ian (Batman)

Then, on the way home Uncle Adam sat in the car with the kids while I ran into the grocery store. He must not have been paying attention to what was going on because this is what I found when I got back. Yes that is gum in Ian's eyelashes! Some caregiver Adam is! I hope my kids accidentally cut Logan's hair one day while he is in my care. Revenge is sweet :)

The Cool Older Brother

Dane was able to make a guest appearance at Ian's school as a Royal Reader. Boy did Dane feel special being able to read 2 books to Ian's class. He read so well and the class sat and listened quietly. When Dane was in Stephanie's 4's class older siblings of kids in his class came as Royal Reader's and it was a BIG deal. So for him to be able to do this for Ian's class is pretty awesome.

When Dane and I came back to get Ian there was time to play. Ian and Abbey LOVED Dane pulling them around in the trailer.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Taylor

HaPpY BiRtHdAy Grandpa Taylor!

October 16 was my favorite father's birthday. We surprised him by showing up at Stein Erikson's in Deer Valley (where he and my mom were staying) for breakfast. My dad is great and I love him so much. And regardless of what he thinks, I did listen to at least 83% of what lectured me on while growing up.

Dane and Ian love to wrestle with him. Dane enjoys golfing (or just driving the cart) with him.

After the birthday breakfast we hit the Park City dirt jump park for some fun. The kids LOVE this place! It is pretty entertaining to watch Ian ride his scoot bike with no brakes and feet up down the jumps.

Dane is a good little rider and LOVES catching big air.

One Beautiful Sunday

We have enjoyed the most beautiful Autumn this year and we have spent as much time as possible outside. One beautiful Sunday we hiked to Cecret Lake with Grandma Sherrie and Grandpa Taylor. It is a really nice, easy hike with a beautiful reward at the end, Water!

After the hike, Dustin, the boys and I went to the last day of the October Fest at Snowbird for lunch and activities. The kids begged to do the alpine slide and bounce house and we all had a wonderful time. I love this weather.

Halloween Decorating

HaLLoWeEn Time is here!

We had fun decorating the house and porch over the weekend. In one of the decoration boxes there was a Haunted House Gingerbread Kit that I bought at the end of the season last year. The boys worked really hard together eating and decorating. The finished product turned out really cute.

Everyone has decided on their costumes this year. Dane wants to be the joy sucking Dementor from Harry Potter, Ian wants to be Batman and I want Dustin and I to be Lego's (either the blocks or the funny people). Now I just need to get started finding, buying and/or making our costumes.

The Fabulous Weather

We have been doing quite a bit of biking in this beautiful weather. The kids rode up the Freeze Creek trail. It has a nice, easy climb and then a fun down hill.

I have mountain biked with some girlfriends a few times. We have done the Mid-Mountain trail in Park City, Dry Creek, and Solitude.

These old cars have been made into jumps at the end of the Bobsled Run off of the Dry Creek trail. Wish I could say that I got some sick air off of them, but.....I didn't. I prefer to keep both wheels on the ground.

First Day of School

Dane is in First Grade this year. He is finally going to school all day! His teacher is April Nielson and she is really great. Dane LOVES her already.

To get to know the kids in the class better they each have a Life Box day the first month of school. They are to decorate a small box and put 5 things in that represent them. Dane chose a giraffe, a BMX trophy, a dirt bike, a Lego, and a picture of Grandma Sherrie.

Ian is at CCNS again this year in the 3's class with Mrs. Stephanie. Of course he LOVES it! All of his friends from last year are in the same class this year so it is great to see how much they have all grown. Abbey and Sam are at CCNS this year too! They are both in Terry's class and loving it too. It is fun for Abbey and Ian to see each other at school.

Five Mile to Delta

On a beautiful sunny, summer day our family, the Dawson's, and Don, Courtney and Brittney went for a fun pre-runner ride. We drove from 5 Mile (by Eagle Mountain) to Delta Utah taking the back roads. Round trip was 200 miles and our top speed was 115 mph! Can you believe it?! When we hit top speed it was on a long, straight and fairly smooth dirt road and the kids were asleep in the back seat. The ride was so smooth and didn't feel that fast! The kids really enjoyed the ride out and back except for the grasshoppers that flew in through the windows and the open holes in the floor. Dane was hysterical! It was pretty gross but I didn't want to freak out and have Dane freak out even worse.

We stopped for lunch in Delta and then went to Stephanie Dawson's parents house to play in their huge back yard before heading back to the trailers.

TWINKIE'S!!!!

Ian enjoying his very first Twinkie! I thought I should document this momentous occasion.

It was packaged for the Shrek - Forever After movie so the filling was GREEN!

The other kid is Jason who was camping by us.

Seriously! How do their Little Minds Work?

This is my conversation with Ian when I told him we were going to Taylin and Finley's house for dinner.

Ian: Do they have a playground?

Me: Yes.

Ian: Do they have a tiger?

Me: Umm....No.

Ian: Oh good! That would be scary.

Sweet Boys

Last night the boys had a sleep over at Grandma Sherrie's. Dane told Grandma that he just had to call me to say goodnight. When I answered the phone I couldn't get a word in he was so excited. He said he had the perfect day! He also told me about his good, medium and bad parts of the day. We do this every night at dinner time. I love hearing what the boys remember about the day. And I think it is a good way to initiate conversation. I hope as they get older that doing this will be a good way for them to talk about things and keep the lines of communication open between us. Ian says the same thing every time. His good part was going to Abbey's house (whether he did or not). His bad part usually changes whether it was from that day or not. I just LOVE these two Boys!

The Second Day of Summer Was Better than the First

I will spare you the details of the First Day of Summer. It included quite a bit of yelling coming from me and the kids. I pulled out my hair in frustration and wondered what in the heck I was going to do with these high energy kids all summer! Aaaaagh!

We started off the second day of Summer vacation by heading out for an early hike with Skadi. The boys wake up at 6:30 pretty much every morning so I figure we should make the most of the day when everyone has lots of energy. I was so proud of the kids. They hiked for an hour with minimal complaining. The view of city in the morning was beautiful.

We came home from the hike and cleaned up and then headed to Ogden to meet my friend Natalie and her kids (Lola, and Luke) for lunch. Then we headed to the Dinosaur Museum. It was a pretty cool place with an indoor museum and then an outdoor park and lots of dinosaur statues. We had a great time!

Ian Preschool Graduation

Ian had a fantastic first year at CCNS in the 2 year-old class. I can't believe how much he has changed since the beginning of the year. He has matured into this smart and confident 3 year-old. His teacher, Mrs. Stephanie, is wonderful. She truly understands children and it is amazing watching her with them. Dane had her as a teacher in the 4's class and I am so glad Ian gets to experience Mrs. Stephanie. Next year Ian will be in the 3's class and cousin Abbey will be there too! I am so grateful I was able to co-op in the class a few times a month. It is exhausting but so rewarding to watch your child grow in the classroom setting. Co-opping is a great way to take what they are learning in the class and incorporate it in the home and everyday life. The purpose of CCNS is to give the children the skills of being a part of a group, being respectful to your fellow classmates, sharing, engaging. These are all skills they will need as they continue through school.

Animal House

We are in LOVE with this girl! Her name is Skadi and is our neighbors dog. She stayed with us while her owner's were in Vancouver for the Olympics and we had a hard time giving her back! She is the sweetest and most well behaved dog and she brings such joy to our house. And even thought we didn't get to keep her for good she does get to come over on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We go on a lot of walks, hikes and car rides. Ian loves her and is sad on the days she doesn't come over. Yesterday he brushed her for like 10 minutes and Skadi just sat there patiently and then they shared a graham cracker. It feels good to have a dog in the house again. With Skadi around it feels like what I can imagine being a grandparent is like. Have fun, fun, fun, sugar them up, and send them home!

These little chickies visited for a weekend from Ian's preschool class. Dane loved to hold them and I caught him taking one on a ride in Ian's play Jeep down to the sand box. I was worried all weekend that we would loose one but they all returned on Monday morning unscathed. Phew! I did learn that chicken's require some work and are really messy.

Ian's 3rd Birthday!

Our sweet, little Ian turned 3 on May 2. He chose a Super Hero birthday party theme and it turned out "Super" Fun!

We did Super Hero themed games. Dustin played the evil villain that was trying to ruin the birthday party and steal the cupcakes. The kids had to defend 'Justice and the Pursuit of a Happy Birthday'.

Games:

*Bean Bag toss into bins with villains faces

*Pin the super hero symbol on the cape

*Destroy the Bombs (black balloons)

*Get rid of the kryptonite

(green balloons, balls, and pompoms)

by picking it up with salad tongs

and putting it in a lead (tin foil) box

*Attack the Villain with Spider-Man web (silly string)

Food:

*Ninja Turtle Pizza

*Incredible Hulk Punch

*Spiderman Cupcakes

Each kid that came to the party got their own personalized Super Hero Cape. Grandma Janene helped me make them. I had the idea and she had the brains to make it happen. The kids loved them.

Ian was spoiled with gifts from family and friends. Dustin and I got him this ramp for bikes, and skateboards. Uncle Adam and Aunt Heidi got him the skateboard.

(*A BIG thanks to Adam who was the photographer)

An Ian Update

Ian is fast approaching 3 years old! He is learning and growing so fast I thought I had better write some things down before I forget them.

Ian has been in preschool this year at CCNS. He goes 2 days a week and loves it! I can't believe how much older he seems from the beginning of the year.

Ian is now potty trained and it was easier than I expected. I was a little hesitant to start him before he was 3. Probably because that is when we started with Dane. What worked for Ian is that he has an obsession with gum balls from our Gumball Machine. So instead of giving him gum balls all day long he got one only when he went in the potty. It worked so well and only took a few days. It is such a wonderful freedom to be diaper free!!

Some funny things Ian says:

"Mom! What is WRONG with you?" (He says it like a teenager would if you tried to give them a hug in public.)

He can't say the letter "f" or "s" so sentence structure is kind of funny. He is also into potty language (thanks to Dane). So the other night he said, "I harted (farted) on the heat (seat)" and then both boys laughed and laughed.

He calls cousin Sam, "Ham or Hammy" and Grandma Sherrie is "Grandma Hairy".

He says upside down like this: 'Up-a-hide-down'

Getting out of the car to meet cousin's Abbey and Sam, Ian said, "Hi ya little Jerks". Another word courtesy of Dane.

Ian: "Mom! I need to tell you hump-ing (something)!"

Me: What is it?

Ian: "Everybody Poops!"

or

Ian: "Mom! I need to tell you hump-ing!"

Me: Ok, what?

Ian: "Everybody likes beer!"

(said while drinking root beer at a restaurant)

Ian is such a joy to have in our family. He is so mellow, happy and accomodating. I feel so lucky to be his mommy. Each morning he rushes to my side of the bed for a cuddle and I love that.

The Best Day!

Dane missed the first day back to school after Christmas break to go to the dentist. That experience was traumatizing and I had to bribe him with a new DS game to open his mouth. So he got a new game then we went to see Cannon at Ski & See where we rented a snowboard for Dane to try. I took both boys up to Snowbird and we played on Chickadee for the afternoon. The day was beautiful and sunny. The boys did great! Ian is skiing by himself and Dane picked up snowboarding really fast. It was such a fun day!