To be a pioneer

You don't have to push a handcart or leave your family dear, but it might be fun to make your own butter.  

For singing time, we brought a bunch of baby-food jars, some cream, and some rolls.  While singing pioneer songs, the kids shook the jars of cream.  We dumped the butter into this country crock container.

We ended up with a lot more than I expected.  It was fun, and the kids sang well.  Then we all had rolls with butter.  The idea came from sugardoodle.  It was a lot better than my idea of doing stick pulls and lighting fires with cow chips.

Sunday Afternoon

I have come to love Sundays. They are crazy and hectic but I always feel so rejuvenated and ready to face another week after they are over. I love taking time off from our regular activities to focus on the gospel, our Church responsibilities, playing with the kids, and spending time with Joseph.
It has been storming for the last week solid, so today was nice and cool when we got home. I considered doing dinner outside right up until it started pouring pretty torrentially.

It sort of looks like Caleb is still wearing a white shirt here, doesn't it?

Evolution

Remember this guy?

Good to know he grew out of the grumps.

a few last things

It is so good to be back in Austin. The weather is pretty terrible, the bugs are huge and disgusting, and everything molds, but there is something about returning to your normal life and routine that brings a sense of contentment and relief. That being said, there were a few memories from our time in Utah that I wanted to document really briefly. You know, so that just in case all of our photo albums and computers are suddenly lost or crazily destroyed we'll still have this little internet story, yeah?

We were lucky enough to meet with some old friends while we were in Utah. I have known Jenn since junior high, and it is funny to me to think that between us we have six kids and two on the way. And the oldest is just five.

Look at that big crowd! The picture is super blurry because Elinor had gotten a hold of the camera and wiped her sticky fingers all over the lens.

We also got together with a family we had known in Austin, but I was really bad at taking pictures of that. Here's Caleb in a field blowing bubbles.

And Emily and Elinor on the playground. Huh. I need to make more of an effort to capture these special moments of meeting with old friends!

I did capture this moment of pantless Paige pushing Elinor on a trike. I'm pretty sure it was no-pants-day in her family.  :)

 That same day Grandma pulled out early birthday presents for Emily and Elinor. I love this picture except for me in the back with a sneer on my face. I promise, it was a combination of pregnancy grumpiness, sun in my face, and concentrating on what might be in that box.

Here's Emily with her prize. I thought this picture was funny because of the glowy, washed-out look. Also that's a giant foot. And also that's me being really pregnant in the corner there.

We played some miniature golf which sounded fun in theory, and sort of was, for about five holes. Eighteen is just plain too many for kids under 8.

Emily taught me a good lesson one day while I was gearing up for a trip to Thanksgiving Point and trying to get her excited as well.  She said, "You know, Mommy, we don't always have to go somewhere. Sometimes we can just stay home and play." So we did. Here's a shot of Joseph and the big kids having some downtime while Elinor was napping.

We were super excited for the opportunity to visit a temple and to have the drive be less than an hour. For FHE one Monday we ate at the BYU Creamery on Ninth and then headed over to the Provo temple to wander the grounds and chat with the kids a bit. Water makes everything automatically cool and exciting in my kids' book, so the trip was a success for all involved.

 And right now I am really supposed to be preparing a talk and YW lesson for Sunday, so I should be done here.

New Exercise Regimen

So, I picked up this quilting magazine off the free racks at the library. I might not be ready to join the ranks of serious quilters yet.
Here is my favorite article:

If you take nothing else away from this, remember, "Fabric is better than chocolate. Fabric is better than chocolate."
I might never go for another run. :)

Also, today the kids did some pretty awesome artwork. Emily picked some beautiful flowers and some leaves that looked like wings.

The older kids and I recently finished reading a book together (Ivy + Bean) and I asked them to narrate a summary and draw a picture. Emily's picture was great too, but here's Caleb's. His worms are really slimy.

Sisters

Emily's take:

July 2008

El prefers a more edgy, goth look.

June 2012

Also, we went to the Children's Day Art Park today. It had potential to be awesome, but I have to say, even arriving at 9 am, the Austin heat sort of made it hard to enjoy.

We liked what we did, but maybe we'll stay longer next time.

Family Reunion

Our excuse for visiting Utah this summer was a family reunion held at This Is the Place park in Salt Lake City. There were lots of organized games for the kids, which Emily was really into.

This was all Caleb would do.

 Oh, and the ring toss too.

But mostly this kind of brooding:

There were these cool handcarts that we liked.

Joseph would have been a good pioneer daddy.

Caleb snapped out of his funk long enough to help out little sister.

Ellie did her part too.

Some other silly pictures:

It was a perfect day to spend outside. We miss Utah grass.

Riding a Bike

So, we got Emily and Caleb these Strider balance bikes a while ago. Caleb has put in many hours, enjoying the freedom and the wind in his hair. Emily rode hers a couple of times before setting it aside and announcing that she was ready for a bike with two wheels and pedals. "I think I know how to ride it, Mom. I just need to get one."

Grandma had a couple of little bikes waiting when we went to visit. One had 12" wheels, just what Emily and Caleb have been practicing on. Emily sat down, pushed off, and rode around the house.
Huh?!

That is not to say she didn't have to concentrate. Because she did.

But she had the confidence and she really did it.

She also tells me she's pretty sure she knows how to drive a car... should we give her the chance to surprise us there too?

Caleb was a little more shaky, so stuck with the 50's trike.

It was hard work in the hot  sun.
But really, Utahans are spoiled when it comes to hot sun. The high for most of the time we were there was mid 70's to 80's. Emily did ask me a couple of times why we couldn't just stay. I had to do some soul searching before coming up with an answer to convince the both of us.


Ellie loved the push trike. Why pedal when you can ride under someone else's power (sweat)?

We always have fun at Grandma's.

Trip's beginning

Long road trips with young children are always so much more interesting than long road trips with just boring old adults. These guys sure kept us on our toes throughout the 20 hour drive to Utah. What did people ever do without portable DVD players?

Elinor's favorite game lately is to pretend to sleep in the car. She thinks it's hilarious.

Ah, those peaceful moments when all three are sleeping.
I think this might have happened once. For about 15 minutes.

Outside a Maverik in Moab. Gotta love that Utah grass.
It sure is something we miss in Austin!

Since our bad experience stranded without a hotel room with roads closing all around us due to bad conditions, we have always booked a hotel room ahead of time for this trip. Those kids love hotels! It is getting tricky to figure out sleeping accommodations for everyone in a single room though.

This is how we started the night.

Those big kids listened to our instructions to go to sleep. That little one didn't.

She ended up on a cot by herself.

We made sure to spend plenty of time outside running around, stretching our legs and enjoying the beautiful weather once we arrived in Utah.

As much as Emily loves her princesses and tea parties, there's no hiding the rugged little outdoorswoman that she really is.

Silly kids. Em was trying to cheer El up. Still at Bridal Veil Falls here.

Beautiful weather, beautiful Utah.

Today

You know when you're a mom when this is what you dump out of your purse at the end of the day:

a wallet, some fruit snacks, a Superman cape, a chapstick, BandAids and Neosporin, and ballet shoes. I am ready for anything.

Elinor might be obsessed with potato head arms lately. It is not unusual for us to see her walking around holding as many arms as she can carry. She was pretty proud of this creation:

And one more thing... I am reading this book, "Bringing Up Bebe," and it is totally engrossing! It has really made me think about a lot of things I took for granted about parenting and what I wanted for my kids. Read it!