Better Late than Never, Maybe or "The 4th of July"

I am such a slacker, but I thought maybe I should post some of the wonderful pictures from our great 4th of July celebration. The Bagleys were nice enough to put up with us for the day, and we had a BLAST! We started out by all going to Ice Age 3, which was SOOOOO good, and then headed back to their house to hang out, eat, and eventually do some fireworks.
We had a great BBQ and I actually made potato salad for the first time. Melissa made these awesome fruit kabobs were you put marshmellows on the end, put them on the grill so the marshmellows melt all over, and then you dip it in a raspberry dipping sauce, can I saw AWESOME!
Livi had a love/hate relationship with this waterbottle. I let her have a drink of it, but it was colder than she expected and started crying. For the rest of the evening she kept chewing on the lid, then crying, then chewing on the lid, then crying. It was though she was chewing on it to hurt it back, then crying when she remembered the dreaded drink.
I think inside every man and boy there is a tiny pyromaniac. We set off a few little fireworks before dark to keep the kids entertained, and then for some reason Chad and Eric thought it would be a good idea to lite a giant dandilion on fire. I don't know what disturbs me most, that they did it in front of the boys, or the look on Eric's face.
The kids got to do the biggest sparklers I have ever seen. I think the girls were a little scared, but the pyro boys had a great time.
It wouldn't be a holiday without a funny face from Ethan. Is it just me, or does he look like James here?
Melissa had another great idea and got the kids glow bracklets and wands. The boys decided they were glow swords instead of wands, typical, and had fun waving them at anything they thought they could, or should, chop.
It maybe mother's intuition, or maybe the look on her face, but I think by this point Ella had just about had it. The smoke bombs had agravated her allergies, she's been to a movie, and played with friends for hours. It was two hours past her bedtime, and she was ready to go home. She even asked if she could sit in the car while we did fireworks (I wouldn't let her because I am a mean mom, and we spent too much money on fireworks for her to ignore them).

Crawling 210

Livi is on the move. Not just little baby crawling, she is a bonified trucker. Not only can she haul diaper across a room, she is also pulling herself up, and she even started cruising across the floor next to the couch while holding onto it. Craziness!!!! Our pediatrician was even surprised! It's great, and I am proud of her, but she keeps bumping her head and falling, so I look like an unfit mother with this little baby with bruises on her head. Luckily I have an inside man at Child Protective Services (Eric is their lawyer).

Secret Cursing

We were so excited to be able to go to Eric's family reunion this year. It was luckily right before Aspen Grove, so we were able to combine it all into one trip. That makes it sound easy. Here is what we actually did. We all flew out to California and Eric flew back the next day. I stayed for a week and a half with my family, then drove to Saint George with my Mom. Eric drove to St. George from Nebraska and met us there, then we all drove to Zion's National Park for the reunion. After the reunion we drove up to Provo Canyon for my reunion, and Eric flew back to Nebraska 3 days later. Eric then flew back to Salt Lake on Saturday (5 days later) and we all drove home on Sunday. So "combining" is really a misnomer. Crazy hard? Yes! Worth it? Yes!
One thing that was especially gratifying to me was seeing Ella ride an actual horse for the first time. She looks SO much like I did at that age, but she is 100% Stott in personality. Or at least I thought she was. Turns out she has a deep love of horses that I also share. She was in heaven. She never wanted to get off of Whiskey (the horse, not the drink)Ethan also had fun riding horses and the kids went as many times as they could. Ella managed to talk her way onto 5 rides, and Ethan rode 3 times.For some reason Alan, my father-in-law, went out to be one with the animals. Cheryl called him the "cow whisperer."Eric got to play volleyball, so he was super happy. It was awesome to see how good he still is. They kept trying to get me to play, but I knew what would happen if I did : The ball would come close to me, and I would completely miss it, they would all be nice on the outside, but secretly they would be cursing me in their heads. I know his family. You may think I'm joking, but you would be wrong.

Pigs Flew

For those of you who don't know every little detail of our lives (and why wouldn't you, we are so interesting! j/k) we use to have a dog. Eric got Charlotte while the rest of us were out of town hoping that she would help Ethan get over his fear of dogs. Well, 9 months later we had to find Charlotte a new home. Ethan wouldn't go in the backyard, we couldn't go on walks with her, I couldn't park in the garage without carrying Ethan across the yard to the back door. As much as we loved Charlotte, we just felt like she deserved a family that would be able to give her the attention she deserved. We agonized and cried, but we felt that Charlotte was stressing Ethan out more than helping him.
Needless to say this has made our trips back to California hard, since my parents have the biggest dog on the planet. Casey started out little and cute, but that scared Ethan even more than big dogs did. Nothing is scarrier than a little ball of adorable yellow fur. Casey is now the biggest, love-iest, nicest dog in the world, who wants nothing more than a little friend to play with, but Ethan would scream and jump on the kitchen counter whenever Casey came in the room. Poor Casey spent most of our trips in the backyard, looking woefully through the slidding doors, or secluded in the laundry room.
So present day, and I am flabbergasted. My mom is the "little boy whisperer." She was able to accomplish in 3 days what we failed to do after almost a year. I would feel sadder about poor Charlotte, but the look on his face in the picture below made all the pain (emotional and physical, ever carry a 6 year old while pregnant?) up to this point worth it. Not only does he love Casey, and Casey love him, but Ethan is so proud of himself. He accomplished something hard, and he knows it. Good job Ethan! (Phew)

I HATE SNAKES

I HATE snakes. I hate the way they move. I hate the way their tongues flick around. I just hate them. I cannot see why we need them. We have coyotes, cats, and other small predators to keep other animals in check, so why even have the icky, creepy crawlies (besides to scare people)?
Unfortunately I am the only one in my family that feels that way. Fortunately I am the mom, so I set the house rules, one of which is "NO SNAKES." Poor Eric. I thought he must not be too sad about it though, because he doesn't ever complain, but then I saw his reaction when we went to California. Big Ethan, as we call him, was driving through and we got to spend about an hour with him. He had been down south snake hunting and the kids and Eric were so excited to see the spoils of his trip.
It may look like I got close to the creepy crawlies, but that's what zoom on the camera is for.
Ella thought it was great, and little Ethan even touched some. Great. 3 against 1. Fortunately my mom vote counts for 5.

A Dream is a Wish....

Some people may think we are weird, that every time we are in town we go to Disneyland. I can't truly explain it to someone who is not as totally enchanted with Disney, like I am, but there is something about walking into the park, where there is happy music, yummy smells, and thousands of memories that make it seem like part of home. I know it is oober expensive, a long drive, and a pain for my mother who has to help with the kids, but I LOVE IT, and more importantly so do the kids.
This last trip I was watching Ella's face as we got on the first ride, Dumbo. She was riding with my mom in the elephant ahead of us, and she turned to the left to look at the ride center, and I saw it, the reason why parents spend hundreds of dollars on anything their kids ask for. The reason there is an entire generation of entitled 20 somethings. It is the look every parent loves seeing on their kids faces. A look of pure joy.
It's funny, seeing that beautiful emotion on her little face. It didn't make me want to run out and buy her a pony, or give into her temper tantrums like I think some parents do. It made me want to give limits more, to NOT buy every little thing she asked for. I didn't want to ruin her ability to experience that pure joy. I don't want her to get immune. I want to see that every once in a while, because it was one of the best things I've seen in a long time.

Ella started posing "like a princess" in all her pictures now. It seemed truly fitting in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle (her favorite princess).

It was also a trip of firsts. My kids both went on Matterhorn for the first time, Ethan went on Indiana Jones, and Ella went on Splash Mountain. It was so neat to see Ethan trying these new things. He has just turned into a brave little man in the last couple weeks. He may have closed his eyes for most of the rides, but he did it, and couldn't stop talking about it afterwords. He was so proud of himself, and I was so proud of him too.

I had to add this picture, because it's the only one of me, in a long time, that looks half way decent. We had dinner at LaBrea bakery the night before, and did some souvenir shopping so we didn't have to waist time on the big day.

In the Lego store there were some amazing creations. This is a life size Darth Vader made of Legos. There was a giant girafee right behind us. I just liked feeling petite.

Nature's Beauty and My Little Beasts

Ethan just couldn't let me have this great shot. He just couldn't.

One of the best parts of the hike down from Scottsbluff Monument is this awesome sandstone tunnel we go through.
Probably shouldn't let my kids climb on the state monument, but there is no sign, and what a cool place to climb.

It's All Eric's Fault (He Said to Write That)

Here is Ethan batting and running bases at his T-Ball game. Eric pointed out he should have taught Ethan more about baseball before his first game, so this is all Eric's fault.
Ethan actually had a great time, and although we unfortunately had to miss the rest of the season for our vacations. He said he can't wait for next time, so we will have to plan better next year. It's the first sport he has actually seemed to like, YEAH!!!!

Kid Sister and Me

Ella had her end of the year program at preschool on. There was tons of cute singing, and seeing all their projects was so neat. This was my favorite, a life sized picture of Ella. They worked on them for weeks, outlining them, adding hair and eyes of the right color, putting on clothes that match actual clothes they wore. Right now the "other Ella" is on her wall, not only is it cute, but she is so proud of her hard work.

Baby Blankie Bunny Binkie Belly

Adorable. Need I say more. I submit to you that I do not.
Taken on May 18, 2009

4 going on 14

If ever there was a little girl born to be a princess, I think it is Ella. She is the funniest, girly-est, princessas I have ever met. Below is her reaction to a princess card. Yep, card. While shopping with my parents in Utah (after this birthday) she was in the stroller, being pushed by my dad, and they came upon Claire's, a jewelry store. She threw out her arms and exclaimed "I LOVE accessories." Yes, accessories. Well, the little princess is now 4, and one of the funniest, most loveing people I have ever met.

Among the spoils were a playmobil pony ranch, roller skates, tinker bell toys, books, clothes, and some bath time dolls she can dress up and "accessorize."

Her cake. It had to be pink, a castle, and have Aurora on it. She also had to dress up to match.

We had the Bagleys over for cake, since they are our family here. Maddi picked out Fancy Nancy's dog "Frenchie" for Ella, so Ella ran to get her doll "Marribelle" for the picture. (if you haven't read Fancy Nancy, pick it up next time you go to a book store or library. It doen't matter
your age, it's a funny, cute set of books)

At least he has one

I've been feeling guilty lately, no change there. But THIS time I happen to feel guilty about wanting to be done with having kids (like there isn't a LOT of other things to feel guilty about), but not for the usual reasons. This time it was because Eric only has one little boy. He is such a man's man. A real adventurer. A lover of the outdoors. Everything you think of when you think "man" and that man deserves to have hords of little boys to teach how to be good men.
Anyways, I was feeling guilty, but then I saw these pictures from the father and sons camp out. Eric is the BEST dad in the world, and Ethan needs that focused love and attention. Ethan just looks SOOOOOO happy, and that made me happy. Eric may have only one boy, but that little boy adores him, and Eric adores him back. How can I feel guilty about that?

Eric is such a good sport. Lots of the boys wanted to fish and Eric was there to load up the poles and help them reel them in.
Ethan with one of his fish.
Ethan, Caleb and a bunch of the younger boys had a Lord of the Flies gang roaming around the camp site. I think this is why we have moms and dads. Moms have organized camp outs with timely meals, bed times, and refereed play. Dads have camp outs with meals that nobody knew would take 3 hours to prepare, bedtime when everyone is finally quiet, and roaming boys having stick fights (although Eric did think to put a light on Ethan's head so at least he could see where he was running with his gigantic stick).
They were just going to sleep in the back of the Pathfinder, but Caleb and Chad the Dad offered to share their tent. Ethan was so happy and insisted on sleeping right next to his best pal.

Little Boy Faces, or "ZINGO," or "random pictures from Mom and Julia's Visit", or "Longest Blog Title Ever"

What is it about a little boy, a camera, and an inability to make a normal face? Here was a great photo of my mom and Livi, and Ethan had to make a face somewhere between Jared and James. Oh well, I guess it shows his personality.
I love the look on Livi's face, like she is puzzled about Julia being on the ground also.
Ella loved to have Julia here to make coffee cake for her. More adults around to do her bidding when she flashes those inncent looks our way. It looks like Ella is taking after Julia with her ability to pose for the camera, and not look cheesy (ie unlike every picture of me).
"ZINGO," oh the dreaded phrase. Ella LOVES this game SOOOOO much. Grandma Sharon was so happy to play this game with Ella at the beginning of the trip, but about 428 games into it, she started trying to pawn the games off onto to Julia. Grandma has no one to blame but herself. She is the one that got the game for Ethan for his birthday.

Happy Birthday to Me

29. The year all women want to stay (or at least lie and say they are). Ah Man, kind of depressing. Hopefully not all down hill from here. I guess most of the women I admire are older than the mythical 29. If I can gain the knowledge of my mother, the ability to love of my mother-in-law, the ability to enjoy so many things like my grandma Jessie, and the practicality of my grandma Donna, I will have so much to look forward to.

Last Sane Parents on Earth

Seriously. I am so proud of Ethan, he did a great job this year, but what am I suppose to think when people bring gifts and balloons to their kids KINDERGARTEN graduation. What are they going to do for Junior High: a car? High School: a house? College: a small country? Perspective people. Sorry about the rant, Ethan's graduation was so cute. They sang lots of songs, had a dvd presentation with pictures from the year, and sweet words from his teacher Mrs. Blehm. I wish We could always have Mrs. Blehm as a teacher, but I guess we have to share. Ella is dying to have her for Kindergarten, so for her sake I hope we are still here.

My little risk taker

Ethan has always been a little timid, and I've worried (what, me worry?) about what to do. Lately he has become much more adventurous, and there was much rejoicing. It is finally warm enough for him to use his skates he got for Christmas, so he and Eric went out to practice. I'm so lucky to have Eric, he is such a good dad.

A B CRAZY at the zoo

Thank goodness my Mom and Julia were in town when Ethan had his ABC hunt at the zoo. Mom watched the girls at home while Julia and I "led" a group of Ethan's classmates. I am so glad Julia was there, because four 6 year olds are more than a handful.
One of the four rules the class had was to only walk on the path. Springtime normally is my favorite, with all the baby animals. The geese had tons of goslings and it made walking on those paths difficult (not to mention messy, with all the droppings, gross yes, but I AM around a 6 year old boy all the time so I notice those things).
Some of you may not have heard, but last year, when I was pregnant, I was bitten by the pig at the zoo. My family still makes fun of me, and it IS pretty ridiculous when you think about it. Who gets bit by the pig at the petting part of the zoo? So anyways, I wanted a picture of me with the demon pig.
Running all over the zoo, finding things that started with the letters of the alphabet, hanging out with Mom and Aunt Julia, those things are cool, but nothing beats playing with his best friend, Caleb. As soon as we found our letters Ethan ran over to the playground and found Caleb. I'm so glad he has a nice friend.

Shock and Awe

Livi is sitting now, and she seems as shocked as anyone! I was trying to get a good shot of her sitting, but she kept trying grab the camera. I wonder the world would look like if you thought everything should go in your mouth.

Mother's Day Surprise

I guess I can publish this now, seeing as it's been a week since Mother's Day. Eric and I have come accross a problem most people have: what to get our mothers for Mother's Day. Do you get the box of chocolates and ruin her diet, do you get the flowers that wilt in week, or maybe a card made by the impersonal greeting card company? I like gifts to have meaning behind them, so I agonize every year. Most years it is a book, or flowers, which our gracious mothers have seemed to like, but this year I wanted to be different. Maybe I succedded a little too well.
We recently had a ceramics store open in town (I hope it lasts the recession) and the kids have loved painting things. We decided to let the kids pick out, and paint items all by themselves. They picked out a mug with a heart for Grandma Sharon to drink her hot chocolate in, and a bud vase for Grandma Joan to put her pretty roses in. Ethan undertook the mug, and Ella painted the vase. It was so hard to let them just go, to not help Ethan keep the heart in the line of the heart, or to tell Ella where to place the polka dots, but it was worth it. The kids were proud, I benefited from just letting them do their own things, and the Grandmas liked their presents.

Carter Can

We love having the Bagleys as friends. Ethan is a 4 months younger than Caleb, Ella is 2 months younger than Maddi, and Livi is only one month older than Carter (I guess Melissa and I need to consult each other on any family plans we make in the future to keep the balance!). It makes playing together very easy and fun!







This was the first time we had put the babies down next to each other, and if this is any indication of the future, we have a boy chaser on our hands. Livi scooted up close to him, held his hand for a while, tried to pat his face, and eventually went for his binkie (naturally). Cater seemed smitten as well, but we definitely have the instigator.

Just Like Kyle

Livi has started putting her binkie back in her mouth by herself. This is a fabulous day for us as parents, with less gettting up in the night, or frantic checking in car seats for binkies we can't see from the front seat. Weirdly enough she prefers to put it in upside down, which I cannot understand, but as I am informed is like her Uncle Kyle. I guess genetics do play a part in personalities!

Twins

I can't believe how much Olivia is starting to look
like Ethan. When she was first born I thought she was her own little blend, but now as she gets older she is starting to look more and more like her big brother. The picture in pink is Livi, the one in blue is Ethan, and below is the two together.

Apples and Oranges, or Adventures in Swimming

It is amazing to me how two children can have the same parents, the same upbringing and still be so different. Ethan and Ella are so awesome in their own ways, but here is one difference I don't really get. Ethan is my cautious, more reserved child. Ella is my thrill seeker. While at the hotel the kids got to go swimming (a rarity when you live in Scottsbluff) and Eric was playing with them in the water. Here are videos showing what they wanted Eric to do.

If you can't tell, Ella wanted to go as high as possible, and Ethan didn't want to go up at all. Eric persuaded him by telling him he wouldn't let go at all. I guess after I left Ethan warmed up to the situation and was actually jumping off the side of the pool by himself. It just takes him a little bit more time to realize the fun possibilities, where as Ella can see them immediately.