Surprises

Every day is full of surprises...usually in the form of kids.

Sunday morning I was getting ready for the day when I heard Cameron in his room saying "ewwww" over and over. Usually this is code for "I just pooped my pants and my room smells like a friggin sewer, come change me!" I needed about 10 more minutes before I was ready so I chose to ignore the "ewwww's" just a little longer. I finally walked into his dark room. I wasn't hit with the stench of death AKA dirty diaper smell, but Cameron kept saying "ewwww". So I flipped on the light to this:


Of course, this picture was taken after I had removed the bloody pajamas and bloody blankets.

I don't know how, but Cameron got an awesome bloody nose at some point during the night. It was pretty gross and almost hork-worthy, but I kept my jaw set firm. Into the tub for him! Unfortunately, while he was in his bath, his bloody nose kept roaring to life again and again. He was in the water for a good 40 minutes. I figured that was the safest place for a baby with an unlimited blood supply.

I just kept adding more hot water so his experience would be nice and cozy. Even after I got him ready for church I would look at him and he would have blood running down to his lips. Crazy kid! Luckily it didn't start up at church!

Speaking of bloody noses...
My kids are back on track after having 3 weeks off school. I gotta admit, this was the first time ever that I DREADED my kids going back to school. I think I'm finally learning to appreciate the comedic timing of my kids and the constant entertainment!

As I picked Parker up from school today I said "how was school?" Now, just to let you know, we've had blizzard-type conditions ALL DAY today! Parker said the following:

Well, you know how the ground is really slick? Well, I fell down....but then I got up....so I KNEW I was okay. But then I fell down again and got a bloody nose....AND my lips felt like they were pushing into my teeth!" I guess that means a bloody nose and a fat lip?? He never talked about it again, but that's Parker for you. He never makes a big deal out of anything!

Tonight at dinner time Carson was telling me about a scary movie he saw at school today. I don't know why, but I grabbed the video camera and I'm so glad I did...Parker's answer to my question is priceless!

This Product Makes Me Happy

It's just so gross that I love it!

Fabulous Flag Football

Our 1st ever flag football season ended tonight. We are done with fall sports...yay!

Carson did really well. I was worried he wouldn't really get into the different plays, but he did! I swear, he is growing up faster than my brain can comprehend these days!


I mean, I SWEAR he grew those praying mantis arms overnight!


I also loved watching Sam grow into the "coach" role. He did AMAZING!


Here's some of Carson's friends from his team: Tanner and Josh


Their trophies are made of rubber so those little football figures are bendy. I made the arms go straight up as if they were saying "touchdown!". Carson moved them back down, and then looked at me like I was an idiot. Pssshhhhaw, I may not know football, but I know what the sign for 'touchdown' is! Besides, why am I arguing with these clowns?

Butterfield Canyon

Wait, is that the name of the canyon in the Oquirrh Mountains? That looks weird to me now...

Anyway, I have lived in Utah since 1996 and I have heard a few people talk about this canyon, but I've never actually driven it before...until Friday night.

Unfortunately, we left our house a little too late. By the time we got to the top of the canyon, this was our view:


It's a beautiful sunset, but we couldn't see any of the actual canyon.

Carson was FREAKED out. I can kind of understand, lots of the road up the canyon is basically one way with a huge drop off on one side...pretty scary with a car coming towards you. We determined that we would go up the canyon again the next day when it was still light outside. Carson defiantly declared: If you come up here again I will get myself a baby sitter so I don't have to go!


So the next day, my mom agreed to be the sitter, and the rest of us climbed the Oquirrh Mountains once again in the mini van! I was feeling pretty ghetto next to all the jeeps and off-road types of vehicles but I didn't care. It was awesome! I can't believe I've never explored this area before!

At the very top you are looking down into the Bingham Copper Mine on the back side. Amazing!

This will blow your mind if you don't live in Utah. Look how close the Jordan River Temple and Oquirrh Mountain temples are!! SWEET!


You know what's even crazier? Just towards the top of the picture and to the right a bit (out of the frame) is where the Draper Temple is located. In fact, at the top of this canyon road, we could see 6 temples: Bountiful, Salt Lake, Draper, Jordan River, Oquirrh Mountain, and Mt Timpanogos.

Fun shots:












In other news....

Fern paints pumpkins for us every year. This year we requested "Bob" from Monsters Vs. Aliens; "Eve" from Wall-E; and a skeleton.

Fern did not disappoint, she never does! Thanks Fern! Let's hope these don't get stolen before Halloween! :)

Carson Is 9 On the 9th In 2009

We celebrated Carson's 9th birthday on Friday! We started off the day by getting a hard cast for Parker. The pediatrician took off his soft cast and started moving Parker's arm around. He said "does this hurt?" as he moved his wrist side to side. Parker enthusiastically said "NOPE!" and then suddenly he raised off his chair like he just sat on a tack! He face got really serious and without further ado, the doctor said "Pick your cast color." ha ha!

I wanted him to pick orange sooooo bad! It's my favorite color AND it's perfect for Halloween. However, there was a glow in the dark variety and once Parker learned about it, he wouldn't listen to anything I said. Ah well, glow in the dark is cool too I suppose...

By the time we left the doctor's office, the cast was rock hard. I overheard Parker and Carson having a disagreement about something and then Parker said "If you don't listen to me I will hit you over the head with my cast!". I seriously laughed so hard into my hand and then I said, very sternly, "Parker! Don't you EVER hit somebody with your cast or your broken arm will be the least of your worries!". ha ha ha!

At least he can bend his arm now. I actually like the hard cast way better.


On the other side of the fireplace we have #1 who is 9.


We celebrated his birthday by going to a 3D bugs movie at the Planetarium. It was so awesome! Carson and Parker kept reaching out in front of them, trying to touch the bugs. I leaned over to Sam and said "Look at the boys, they are totally reaching!" Sam said "I want to reach too, this is so crazy!".

After the movie we went to dinner at CPK and then headed home to welcome both sides of the family for caramel apples. It was so much fun! Thanks to everybody who made an effort to come over, it meant a lot to Carson.

He's been begging me for a bathrobe since he turned 8 I think. I hate the thought of wrapping up in a stifling bath robe after a shower so it never crossed my mind that he was serious. ha ha! To make a long story short, he was serious, and he was really happy about this gift!


As cousins and aunts/uncles started signing Parker's cast, he was totally unaffected by the attention. He just wanted to eat his delicious caramel apple!


Guess what my parents gave Carson for his birthday? They gave him REALLY CREEPY Hermit Crabs! Oh my gosh, these things freak me out to say the least. Every once in awhile I'll hear them scratching in their cage. AGHHHH!!!!

Today we gave them a bath, yes that's right, a bath. The instructions say we have to submerge them in water every other day. Holy cow did it make them active! They were crawling all over the place after that! Carson named them "Crabby" and "Patty", if you are a spongebob fan, that will make perfect sense.


Shudder

And finally, Parker's last soccer game was on Saturday. The trophies this year are amazing! It's like a bunch of nuts and bolts welded together. Very fun!

Fall Is In The Air

I just LOVE this time of year! I love the crisp weather. I love yanking my flowers out of the ground and putting pumpkins in their place. I love how it just SMELLS like Halloween outside! Does that make sense to anybody but me?

Fall brings....football.
I took some pictures at Carson's game last night. Sam is the coach and I love watching him interact with the kids.



Look at the kid in red! He's totally listening! That's probably more than I can say for all the kids in white....8 and 9 year olds have a very short attention span!


Sam is saying: We want to run the ball "THIS WAY"! Well, either that or he's showing the kids his favorite dance moves...


wow, a picture says a thousand words....
When I grow up I want to be just like my daddy....ya know, stuff like that!


Uh-Oh...somebody has to go to the bathroom. Oh hey, I think Carson does too!


Speaking of Fall...remember when Parker fell off the trampoline? OH man, that was some good times....good times.
Fern and Russ went to New York and brought Parker back this monkey. Because Fern is incredibly thoughtful, she bandaged up the monkey's left arm so it would be just like Parker.


When she told me what she did, I said "Fern, this is why I need you in my life! You think of these kinds of things when I don't!" Let's be honest, I'm too busy laughing to be that kind and sensitive!

Tonight Parker had a soccer game. Part of me wondered if he shouldn't play due to the injury. Then the other part said "Nah, you don't use your arms in soccer!"

Parker, when in doubt, pinky out!


Agghhhhh! TOO MUCH PINKY! Stop, stop, stop!


Finally, you can't enjoy the Fall season without caramel apples!

Tomorrow is Carson's 9th birthday. I asked him if he wanted cake, or if we should do something totally awesome, like caramel apples! No surprise, he chose caramel apples. hee hee!

We had so much fun decorating apples tonight, I hope he lets us do them every year for his birthday.

We used various sprinkles:


And chocolate and candy.

Here's my personal favorites: mummys!



Too bad we have to wait until tomorrow night to partake!




And yes, I'm trippin' (in keeping with the "fall" theme) that tomorrow I will have a 9-year old son. Didn't he just learn to say "mama"? Oh wait, his first word was actually this sentence: WHAT IS IT????? He still uses this phrase constantly. He's my inquisitive child fo-sho. Love ya Carson!!!

Time To Get Caught Up

I think a Sunday afternoon is a great time to get caught up on my blog.

So, without further adooooo

Parker is still in soccer. I think he has 2 more games. Not sure how that will go now that his arm is busted...should be a good time.

This picture was from a few weeks ago. I love how Mason (my niece's son) is considering throwing the ball to him. Maybe it's because Parker is giving him two "I love you" signs with his hands....



I love it when Sam's brother Jeff comes to the soccer games. He brings suckers that keep Cameron happy!


Fall soccer = nice sunsets!


A few weeks ago, we had a Prairie 5th ward reunion. As my friend and I were reminiscing about all the people that have moved out of this neighborhood, we were amazed and a little freaked out! There were just over 100 families that we gave invites to! We probably had about 30 or so families show up for the reunion. It was so much fun that I think we will make this an annual tradition!

Cathy Gilmore wrote a song that Davis Strong, Ed Gilmore, and Jake Colton sang to the tune of "Those were the days".


Back when Cougar Lane was dirt
And Kellermeyer danced with no shirt
The Stokes boys ate up all desserts
Those were the days

The everlasting talent show
Crump shoveling all his neighbor's snow
Stokes made that great church organ blow
Those were the days

And you knew who you were then
There never were enough Young Men
The housing market kept it turning over and over again

The Okie teaching Sunday School
No Easter Bunnies-that's the rule
The biggest stake? That's pretty cool
Those were the days

More families in from Tuscany
No teachers for the nursery
We had more splits than Leatherby's
Those were the days

Low interest rates were all the rage
And scouting had its golden age
Then some British guy we couldn't get off the stage

We soaked up Patterson's stories
And got Festin's technology
And heard of Amy's OCD
Those were the days

We had two dozen pregnancies
Is there an end to Tuscany?
More lessons on pornography--
Those were the days

So families come and families go
Yet memories just seem to grow
From all the great friends we did know
Those were the days.






We signed Carson up to play Flag Football with 3 of his friends. About a week before games were to begin, the Rec Center calls me and says "You signed Carson up to play flag football, right?" I said "Yeppers". He said "We don't have a coach so what are you going to do about it mom?" I quickly said "I guess Carson's dad will coach."

Sorry Sam.

However, Sam has some great friends whose children are also on the team, so basically Sam, Davis, and Keith are coaching. What is it called when 3 people are the coaches? Would they each be a "tri-coach"? I dunno, but the system works great!

I'll be honest, I know NOTHING about football. I just go and cheer when I feel it's appropriate to cheer. I think Carson is having fun so that's gotta be a good thing. Neither Carson or Parker are really sports-aggressive types but I figure it's good for them to be playing with teammates and understanding how to work with others....



For the past 3 weeks I've been watching my nephew, Nick. I've felt kind of bad for him because right around the time I started watching him, I got my old job back so he's been kind of bored hanging around at my house while I've been working. Sam must have felt bad too because last week he took a half day off work so he could come and do something fun with the kids. Thanks Sam!

It's been really chilly lately so we bundled the kids up and took them on a small hike. Nothing like cold weather, water, rocks, dirt, steep terrain, and good company to break up the boredom of the daily grind!









And finally, this weekend one of my college roommates and her family stayed with us! We watched General Conference and played as much as we could in between sessions. It was lots of fun! Have you ever watched a kid with a broken arm try to play at a playground? Good thing Parker is such a great sport!

Thanks for coming over Natalie, Ian, and Tatem! We love you guys!! Unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture of Natalie or Ian. DUH! I'm such a slacker sometimes! I guess you will have to come back so we can get pictures of the adults and not just our crazy kiddos! :)










Okay, now I'm officially caught up! Just in time for Carson's 9th birthday this week. Am I seriously old enough to have a 9 year old? FrEaKy!