Corn on the Cob

We got a case of corn recently with our Bountiful Basket order and had some the other night for dinner. Dad decided Brailie probably would like a taste and he was right.

She munched as much as she could for as long as we would let her. I didn't want her to have too much as I was afraid she might get a belly ache but I am glad to see she loves vegetables-I won't try and keep her from those.

Just like her big sister only we didn't give Allie a chance to discover corn on the cob until she was 16 months old. Look at what she missed all those months.

Potty Training

This is new and exciting in our house-miss Allie is learning how to use the potty. In fact all size 5 diapers have magically "disappeared" (or been moved to the hall closet) from our home. All that are left behind are Dora panties. She decided it herself. I didn't push it on her, though I asked her that morning (Aug 13th-wow freeky Friday even) like all mornings if she was ready to be a big girl like her cousins and use a big potty. She happened to say yes and actually mean it this time. We are going on day 5 as of today and are doing quite well. We average 2 accidents a day- usually due to mommy helping with Brailie (how dare the second child have a moment of attention). We haven't perfected the art but it is getting better and we are hoping to be able to go to church on Sunday.

We started out like this with the little potty in the kitchen
And have now graduated to this. She looks so cute on this seat on the toilet. My little girl-little but big.

Brailie can't seem to figure out what it is about this thing that makes everyone dance and clap their hands and give out prizes.

Daddy's first day of school

It is official-school has begun for another year. We are sad to have daddy gone so many hours everyday but we do like to be able to go for walks to visit him, help in his class and go to baseball and basketball games. And it is really fun to hide when he is coming home so we can jump out and yell, "SURPRISE." Have a great year daddy. We love you.

Allie singing

This is one of Allie's new favorite things to do: have me play the piano while she sings and dances. This time daddy caught us doing a duet.

Fishing and Camping 2 Year old style

Allie has been talking about wanting to go fishing for a while. Daddy taught her to sing the chorus to Fishing in the Dark months ago and somehow one day when talking she decided that she needed to go fishing. She also plays a fishing game in nursery and I think that has helped spark some interest as well. We wanted to try and squeeze one more fun activity into our summer and wanted to do a campout. I knew that it would be unrealistic to go anywhere far to try and camp and after a horrible ward campout/emergency room visit when I was pregnant with Brailie my feelings about camping in general are mixed so Greg and I had settled on just going to the state park in town and having a weenie roast and sleeping in the tent and then fishing off the dock in the morning. Well Greg went to Grand Junction that day and I canned pinto beans all day and by the evening we were tired and realized that even if we just went to the state park we would still have to pack (which is not that fun with kids). Instead we decided to pitch the tent in the backyard, cook hotdogs on the grill and go fishing that evening before bed. Greg had bought Allie a new Dora fishing pole which she called her paddle and she was super excited about going fishing and about sleeping in the tent. For fishing she wanted to go in a boat across the lake and then jump out and swim in the water and catch a pink fish (I think she go the fish part from nursery and everything else from watching Dora).

Here we are making our way to the dock. Allie thought this was a boat and kept wondering why it wasn't going any where. I think this picture is priceless.
Holding her pole while Daddy gets things set up.

Pausing for a picture. HOW CUTE!!!

Daddy's getting the hooks on.

Waiting very patiently.

Boy there is a lot of stuff to get ready before you can fish.

Showing me her pole

Reeling it in. Daddy tried to get her to let her hook sit in the water but she loved reeling it in. I told Greg before we went to just let her do her thing and not take it to seriously. He did amazing. She was disappointed we didn't catch a fish but I am actually glad we didn't. I would have been worried she would have been excited jumping up and down and fallen off the dock.

Here Allie is with the lantern on our bed waiting as we got ready to go in the tent. What was perfect about sleeping in our backyard was that I had Brailie sleep in her crib and just kept the monitor on and by my pillow all night and she slept wonderfully.

After I took her little pony tails out her hair looked so cute and curly.

What a sweety.

This is in the morning. She slept so good. She loved looking at the stars. She'd say, "oh look how beautiful the stars."

This is her, "what's that. I hear something" face.

It was a big truck going by. What a fun camping trip. Perfect for a two year old. She had just as much fun as she would have any place else. It was a great experience-minus all the packing and laundry. Fun to be together as a family.

Greg's Classroom

Since we have been married I have been helping Greg get his classroom ready for school. Lets face it- Elementary school is just a ton funner than High School as far as the cuteness factor goes. This year he wanted to do a melon theme. This is the bulletin board I put together outside his classroom. Each child has a slice of watermelon on a plate.

Like this.

Seriously, I think I have found my dream job in Green River UT-Bulletin board/party decorator for the Elementary school. Well for the whole town-the whole town could use a spruce up. I love this kind of stuff. If I could get paid to do it-what a dream job.

Swimming

Before the summer ended I wanted to have one more chance for us to go swimming in Castle Dale. They have an amazingly kid friendly pool there and Allie was in love with it the first time we went and she has become a much more confident swimmer since so I knew she would love it even more and I was right. We had a blast. Even Brailie loved it. We put her in this floaty tube where she could touch the bottom and she walked all over the pool. We couldn't believe it. She was everywhere all on her own. Wish my kitchen was a 1 foot deep pool. I would put her in this all morning long and let her roam free.
Allie swimming like a fish. After a while she asked to take the floaties off and swim without and did a great job. Last time we were here she threw up in the pool but this time we were barf free. YAY!!

Allie doing a cannon ball jump

What a beach babe.

Ready for the California beaches I think and she is as tanned as if she has spent her life on the beach (and yes I do use sunscreen).

Brailie

Pardon the repeat shots of Brailie but you just have to enjoy her cuteness along with me. Snapped these one morning before we headed out to go swimming. What a cutie!!

Family Photos

When we were in Canada this summer part of our big surprise was to get a photographer to come to the farm to take some photos of us all together. Here are my favorites from the shoot.

Allie isn't in the picture because she was super cranky and not cooperative.
I love these behind the barn.

Our little family.

Happier because we are now in possession of the cowbell

I have written previously about my feelings about trying to get a picture of the children all alone. This is not staged perfectly but I actually think it is really cute.
Probably one of my favorite pictures all together. So cute and tender, like they are saying, "brother-hold my hand I am sad."

My parents

Love the scenery

My dad wanted a picture where we were standing on the road with mostly sky behind us. The angle wasn't quite right but I love this picture too.

My other favorite-Uncle Steve with the nieces and nephews.

Grammy and Grandpa Sam with all their grandkids taken as Allie was trying to escape the scene. She had had enough.

Couch Cushions

So when you live in the middle of no where there are pluses and minuses. I can't think of the pluses at this moment but I can tell you one of the minuses: there are very few places to take your kids during the dog days of summer. No air conditioned children's jumpy centers, air conditioned malls with play places to explore, movies theatres, museums (okay yes I know we have one of those but I mean one that would be exciting for little kids), little kid friendly water parks, zoos etc etc. We have the library and the Melonvine as well as the playground that will scorch a child's bottom during the heat of the day in 5 seconds flat. So I have to get creative. Lucky for me I can draw on my childhood memories and one of those memories is of the old brown couch. This thing was one of those couches that was so soft it would suck you in and you would have to be pulled out; a small child could get lost in its cushions. It was a sectional couch and that made for great fort building and other adventures and all the couch cushions were removable and doubled as: horses, acrobat matts, circus structures and sleds to go down the stairs (to name a few). Well we have a couch with removable cushions here in our house too and so the other day I decided to make our own kid friendly jumping center and it was a big hit!!

Here is Brailie trying to get in on the action

Taking a short break

At it again

Brailie finds the tags on the couch and...

ummm a few crumbs too (yea a little snack).

Fun times for everyone.