Summer Fun and Back to School

It's amazing how fast the summer went when I look back at it. There were days during August when I thought it would stretch on forever. We had some fun times in Park City, Lava Hot Springs, at swimming lessons, art classes and just hanging out at the park.

The kids have started school and they are doing great. Lily loves first grade because of school lunch. She gets chocolate milk every day and she is in heaven. Noah is taking kindergarten very seriously. He says he has to practice every day to do good. The first day he thought he would be in trouble at the rug. They were told to not make a sound. Unfortunately he "burped his bum" and said the other kids laughed. He's trying to not let that happen again. Ethan and I are getting the house organized and I'm loving it. I think I'm a better mom in the afternoon when my kids get home. I can just pay attention to them and not worry about the list of things waiting for me.

Brent's Projects

I thought I would put up some pictures of Brent's work.  He's amazing!  I believe he can do anything he puts his mind to.  The pictures are of a bathroom he remodeled (he gutted it first), some wing back chairs he reupholstered, a fireplace mantled he made from scratch (he later tiled around it, but I couldn't find the finished project picture), a couch he reupholstered, and a floor he was building to fill in my parent's pit in their family room.

The Emperor's New Clothes

So last week Lily and Noah got invited to a Princess Party.  They were to arrive in the proper attire.  This is not a problem for Lily.  She has plenty of girly outfits to choose from, along with accessories.  We had nothing for Noah, so I told him that Brent would make him a cardboard crown.  Brent does a great job with creating things, thank goodness for husbands!  Noah continued to ask me where his prince outfit was and I continued to tell him his clothes were just right.  I finally said to him, "Noah, the crown is all you need to wear."  He looked at me with startled eyes and said, "You mean I have to go naked!"  I was laughing so hard I was crying.  I could just picture him naked with all the other 4 and 5 year olds.  I love the funny things my kids say!

Ethans new word "NO"

Ethan has learned to say No!  My sweet, mellow boy crunches up his face, makes a growling sound and spits the word out at me.  I know I shouldn't laugh, but it seems so unlike him it catches me off guard.  Yesterday when we were brushing teeth I caught him practicing his no in the mirror. He would growl the No out and then start laughing.  He did this four times in a row.  Maybe he is going to be an actor or comedian.  His other new words are "I see" and "bus".  I like these a lot more than "no".

Spring Cleaning

I have had the spring cleaning bug.  I love having everything clean and organized, but my kids don't seem to feel the same way :).  This weekend Brent and I redid parts of our kitchen.  He installed four new shelves in our pantry and my mom and I went crazy pulling everything out of the cupboards.  It was so satisfying to see an empty clean pantry.  After the shelves were done (minus the paint on the side of the shelf) we spent time analyzing where everything would fit/work best.  The finished product looks great and I love it.  Plus I got half the other cupboards cleaned and organized.  I can't wait to finish the rest.

Five Months Later!

So my intentions have been good and I know this doesn't take long, but the holidays hit and it went downhill from there.  I am beginning anew.  Here are some pictures from the last few months. Some of my favorites... Lily with the birthday cake Steph made, Ethan asleep on the table, kids first day of t-ball (although the picture didn't turn out great sorry), my cute boys, Ethan holding all the balloons he individually gathered, green eggs and ham day, and Brent's bithday.  More to come :)