Smiles for Grandpa

We went to a park on Sunday with my parents. There were some pretty pillars, so I thought I'd take a quick photo of the kids before letting them play on the swings and slides. I'm a mean mom, I know. I begged and begged for a smile (or even a glance in my general direction) and this is the best I got:

Suddenly, Grandpa showed up by my side and made a silly face. Those kids lost it. I could not believe how hard they laughed.

Seriously? Why can't they smile/laugh like that for me? So it's official, Grandpa needs to follow me around whenever I bring out the camera.

Aquarium

We visited the aquarium for one of Lucy's birthday activities last week. It was a lot of fun. We went with Brian's mom and two of our nephews.

I loved the penguins.

Brian loved the sharks.

I think Lucy and Porter loved it all. This aquarium just changed location recently and it is seriously 100 times bigger and better than it was before. We'll definitely be going back again.

Two

Lucy's cousin, Peyton (left), just turned one. These girls get to be the same age for a few days every year. We took a photo this weekend to commemorate the occasion. It's fun to see what a difference a year makes.

But they are no longer the same age. As of today, Lucy is now a big, mature two-year-old. I can't believe how quickly time flies. I'm hoping to post a two-year update in the next day or so. But for now, we are off and running into a day FULL of birthday fun.

Walking in the Desert

We love to take morning walks. There are lots of weed-filled lots in our neighborhood that are just waiting to have houses built on them. The weeds often get so overgrown they cover up the sidewalks and we have to walk on  the street. That could be annoying, but it's hard to feel put out when the weeds look this beautiful.

So grateful to live in a place with such charming weeds. ;)

This Ain't Our First Rodeo . . .

But it was hers. This girl was a little scared and a little intrigued through the whole night.

This guy thought everything was incredibly funny. Despite his face in this picture, he loved it.

Loved the green mountains in the background.

Lucy gave me one last cheesy smile, but as I took the photo she looked from me to the ladies next to us who were oohing and aahing over how cute she is.

The kids stayed up way past bedtime. But that's what summer's for, right?

Duck Pond

If you know me well, you'll know that loving Utah doesn't come naturally to me. I often find myself focusing on the things I don't like about it. But really, there are lots of great things about this place and I'm trying hard to focus on those. So if you see an increase of overly complimentary posts about Utah, just know it's all in an effort to force myself to love where I live. I am determined.

I took the kids last week to one of the places I love: the byu duck pond.

Campus will always be a favorite place of mine. Great memories, for sure. But I love all the trees and manicured lawns and well-kept flower beds and beautiful buildings.

Summertime here brings green. And I love green.

These kids loved the ducks.

And the ducks loved them.

We all agreed that we would take all the cute little ducklings home with us if we could. Is there anything cuter than ducklings? Oh my!

The kids didn't want to leave. Neither did I. 

Yes, we are lucky indeed to live near such a duck pond as this. :)

One Year

It's been one year since I gave up teaching to stay home with these two rugrats.

It's been one of the best decisions I've made.

It was hard. I honestly feel like it's taken me a whole year to actually adjust to this full-time-mommy thing. It was a tougher transition than I thought it would be. I missed being a teacher. And it's really hard to be alone with two small kids all . day . long.

But I love how much time I get to spend with these kiddos every day. I feel like I can more fully appreciate the stages they go through since they are now my main focus.

I love seeing myself in them- the things they say and the things they do. I like being the main influence in their lives during these early years.

And I love that I'm so blessed to have the option to stay home with them every day. I have my sweet husband to thank for that!

Zoo

We saw lions and tigers and bears. . .

And a really fun elephant show.

Brian dressed up for the occasion, sporting one of his favorites in the line of shirts he designed for his job recently. I think the giraffes were impressed.

The lions were new at our zoo this year. I was shocked as I looked through the photos today-- the glass between us and the lions is barely noticeable! Now I wish I had properly posed the kids for a nice picture, standing NEXT to the sleeping lions.

We went to the zoo with Baby Andi (who isn't really a baby anymore) and her parents. Porter and Lucy absolutely adore this little girl. They also adore not looking at the camera when I ask them to say cheese.

How to Teach Your Children Creativity

1. Find an activity that's way above your childrens' ability levels.

2. Choose materials that they'd rather eat than use for any other purpose. While we're at it, throw in a few sharp, pointy items that they can drop on the floor to cause a walking hazard.

3. Set up the materials.

4. Ignore the children eating the materials faster than you can tell them what to do.

5. Make a beautiful 3-dimensional house as an example.

6. Sit back and laugh as they tear the house apart and eat all the marshmallows off of it the second you set it down.

7. Smile gratefully at Porter who realizes there's something he should be doing and sticks the marshmallows with a toothpick before he sticks them in his mouth.

8. Admit defeat. Eat some marshmallows.

Graduated

So proud of my graduate. I don't know how people do school and work and raise a family at the same time. But somehow, my hubby did it. Summa cum laude. He's pretty amazing.