Still Alive...barely

I might be exaggerating but its really, really hot here. I should be used to this but it surprises me every summer. I always forget what 91 degrees at 5:30am feels like. We've had a great few weeks...a family reunion in San Diego, a 3-year-old birthday (DREW!) a trip to the lake with the Wallins, a super fun 4th of July and lots of other stuff in-between. (more in the next post) So here are pictures (in totally random order) and the quick update... (WARNING: Ridiculously long blogpost ahead. Only if you really love us will you want to keep reading!)

Drew is a happy kid celebrating his actual birthday with cousins who love him so much they bought him new SUPER JAMMIES - with a cape and everything!

This is my kid who LOVES treats. Any and all treats. He is in heaven.

We had a GREAT dinner with some friends from Eric's work - we just love Nancy and Jeff and their families are so kind. Thanks for a fantastic evening!

We found lots of places for sand to hide.

Ty touched the ocean for the first time...he loved it!

Drew found shells with Great-Grandpa Joe! I just found out a couple of years ago that Grandpa "seeded" the beach. I always thought he was just a really good shell-finder.

My family (minus Joel!) at the big 60th Anniversary Bash at our hotel in La Jolla. Looks like we're in Hawaii...

The walking cousins at Sea World - babies Lauren, Ty and Keslie were in their strollers. FUN!

Celebrating Grandma's 80th Birthday! Her crown says "The Queen"

Almost all the cousins and their kids. We were missing a few but look at the crowd!

Drew learned to Boogie Board...and loved every minute!

Making breakfast for Daddy on Father's Day - Drew tells me he is a good "cooker"
Daddy's old mission buddy P.F. Sundahl dropped in for a visit! We hope you can stay longer next time!

This is Grant...we love Grant. Grant is the lucky son of John and Kelley who we also love oodles.

My boys think they are soooooooooooooo very funny when I ask them to smile for a photo-op.

Ethan and his buddy Crew who were lucky enough to play in the dirt pile - Eric (almost) finished the landscaping!


Daddy got goggles for Father's Day - and a shot with the handsome young men who make him a daddy!

We got a new box of band-aids. And now we need another. Those are Drew's legs.

Boating with the Wallins at Canyon Lake - we LOVE the Wallins! Always up for a good time and thankfully inviting us to come along!

Eric surfs the wake - isn't he HOT!

We played in the mud. Is anyone noticing a theme here? I give LOTS of baths!

We set up the tent in the house - because it's too dang hot outside.

"B" DAY

Today the boys and I celebrated "B" Day. Which is somewhat ironic considering that today is my sister Val's B-day. So first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY VAL!!! Love you! Hope it was good.

On to our "B" Day...

We first made a list of all the things that start with the letter B. It was going great until Drew said "Belly Button" which set off some sort of strange belly button dance by Ethan and uncontrollable laughter by Drew. Gotta love how an educational exercise turns into slapstick comedy.

We played baseball.

We made lots of bubbles.

We ate brownies.

"B" day success.

P.S. When asked by a friend if we were going to do a different letter every day...the answer is no. This was a complete coincidence. Ethan begged to play baseball. Drew is obsessed with bubbles. I wanted brownies. "B" day was born.

Happy Memorial Day!

Morning Walk

+

Yard Work

+

Clean House

+

Bake Cupcakes

+

Shop for FUN

+

BBQ with Friends

+

Swim like Fish

=

THE PERFECT DAY

SUMMER: WEEK 1

I love SUMMERTIME! No, not the 110 degree weather but everything else that comes with it. Preschool is out and it feels like we can do anything. (Silly, I know but we lead a small life around here!) On Thursday the boys and I sat down and wrote a long list of everything FUN that we want to do this summer. The list is long and summer just isn't so we've already gotten started. This week we made our own playdo (complete with scents), went to that bouncy place, the library, hit up germland at the mall and managed to squeeze in a bikeride. I LOVE SUMMER!

My favorite things about SUMMER:

1. BBQ's are totally acceptable...for every meal. My fav things to BBQ are hamburgers, hot dogs (surprise, surprise), foil dinners, corn on the cob and of course...a good ol' steak for Eric D. I'm going to really try some new stuff this summer. (like actually learn how to turn on the BBQ myself)

2. Swimming at 8:00am and then again at 8:00pm. Because we can.

3. The freedom - nothing to run to. No pressure. Each day is a whole new day for projects and/or FUN!

4. The accessibility of babysitters. So much easier to plan a morning of "me" time. More realistically, I can go to the dentist and the grocery store without my entourage.

5. Jammies become loungewear for the better part of the day.

6. Road Trips!!!

7. Watermelon, lemonade, popsicles and snowcones.

8. Tan lines = a good day

9. Memorial Day, 4th of July, kids bdays and other excuses to make a yummy treat!

10. Dbacks games. Totally fun for the kids and an easy night out for me and Eric. FUN!

What do you LOVE about Summer? What's your on your list?

Because RANDOMNESS Defines Me Lately

Here's the update:



1. My sis Becky had her baby girl Keslie (isn't that the cutest name!) last week. Yay for no more kankles. :) Yay for three kids = partly insane. Can't wait to meet her!

2. Ethan hair is growing vvvveeeerrrryyyy slowly. I seriously don't know why this is such a big deal to me. But I really miss putting "glue" in his hair and making it spiky. He does not miss it.



3. I had a very nice mother's day. I got my first homemade gift - a recipe card and magnet holder from Ethan. It was adorable and cute and now I get why people can't just throw these things away.



4. Drew is over his super high fever and we are all sleeping through the night again...for now.



5. We got to talk to Joel over the weekend! It was DELIGHTFUL! He still has his sense of humor and is a GREAT missionary. On a sadder note, my bro got his camera stolen ... from the mission office ... with a full memory card. Bummer!



6. Today was Ethan's water party at school - can you believe school is almost out here - next week is the last week! He has a really great class with some funny little kids. Today when we picked up his carpool buddy, they were comparing belly buttons (who's was more round, who's was really in the middle). It was hilarious!



7. Tomorrow is my Dad's birthday. I can't believe he has been gone nearly five years. I sure miss him and have been thinking about him so much lately. He really was an amazing man.



8. I'm just about done with these invites to a Relief Society meeting. Why am I making invites to a meeting? Because it gives me a creative outlet. (that was a recent "discussion" between me and Eric D.)



9. The SPRINKLES CUPCAKES opened last week in Scottsdale. And the KRISPY KREME re-opened in Mesa. Nothing like having high-fat/high-calorie - deliciousness so convenient. How lucky am I? How lucky are my drawstring pants?



10. Ty is hilarious. These pictures say it ALL.



11. It rained this week. Sort of random but everything looked so pretty, smelled so good and it sounded so soothing out by the pool.

Let me explain...

This was self-inflicted. Not a haircut gone bad (like the lady at the grocery store thought today - thank you very much.)

Long Story SHORT...

cutting Drew's hair.

ethan is next.

eric says he needs help with his car.

go inside house.

lock back door.

help eric for 5 minutes.

come inside.

ethan says, "don't worry about me mom. I already cut my hair."

mom has mini-meltdown.

ethan now looks a lot like ty.

mom realizes now that she overreacted.

it is JUST hair.

I really think that he thought he was helping. When he saw his hair in the mirror, he had his own meltdown. Said he looked "crazy" (hence the tear-stained face). Now he likes it and won't stop touching his head. I guess crazy is what we're going for around here.

"Someday we'll look back at this and laugh."

They might have to put that on my gravestone.

Other Happenings...

The older boys went to Father & Sons - they had a blast and came back very DIRTY and with two new additions to the family. A wolf spider (thank you Ethan) and a potato bug (much better Drew).

Who had fun camping with Dad????

MEEEEEEEE!!!!

Eric asked me if I was glad that he took the boys so that I could have a break - they were gone for 12 hours and that's about how long it took me to get them ready to go. I call that a wash.

Ethan is a STAR!

That might be a slightly exaggerated title...if I wasn't his mom! You see, he is a star to me. Last night was his Let's Play Music recital! If you haven't heard of this program and you're interested in having your kids play an instrument later in life, this is a great (and fun) stepping stone. Anyway, last night was his little performance and he was great. He is a pretty HAPPY kid and loves the stage (can you say Eric D. jr.?)! I'm amazed at his abilities, his growing independence and his sense of self. You ROCK Ethan!!!