June memories

I take tons of pictures on my phone that don't necessarily need a whole blog post written about them. But these are the little things that make up our lives and I don't want to forget all the little memories that prompted me to pull out my camera. So get ready for a picture overload. Here are some little things from June . . .

 Rooftop Concert, sporting the free t-shirts Provo City gives away at the event each month. They are a huge hit and we love them more than anyone because these kids' daddy designed them all.

Here he is, giving his shirts away at the booth. I love when I'm out around town and I see people at grocery stores, museums, etc. wearing his shirts. He's a pretty awesome designer, if you ask me.

The books the kids choose from the library each week go into the car seat pockets for the kids to read whenever we drive anywhere. I think it's one of my more genius ideas. It gets them more reading time AND it keeps me from losing library books and paying late fees. Win, win.

 Dance Party in the Trunk. While I cleaned & vacuumed out the car one day, Porter and Lucy wanted to play in the back. Porter turned music on with my phone and they seriously danced back there for over 20 minutes. Apparently, Porter took some funny videos and snapped a few pictures too. This is the least blurry photo he took.

Lucy took off her pants before we left the house. Mommy didn't realize till we were already out. Oops.

Failed attempt at snapping a photo to send to Grandma. But I'm including it because this shows our life. I feel like we're constantly running errands. My kids spend way too much time in grocery carts. 

 First swim of the season. Cutest swimmers in the world.

I bought the beach towel and swimsuit at separate times. I did not plan for them to match. I guess I just really like navy stripes. 

Provo Temple. Awkward Selfie. Rare pic of the two of us together. 

 Porter & Lucy helping Grandma plant flowers in Great-Grandma's flowerpots.

Touring Grandma's old elementary school (now a museum).

 We actually went because of the quilt show taking place at her old elementary school (museum). This was a classroom. My mom explained that the little door on the left was a garbage chute that took their trash down to the basement. Convenient? Dangerous? I don't care. I want one.

 Porter found his favorite quilt. Everything is awesome.

Brian surprised me one day with a fancy, new picnic basket. He told me he thought I would like it because it seemed Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish. Was he ever right! Of course, we had to pack it full of pb&j sandwiches and sparkling lemonade and go try it out. Perfect evening!

 Lucy, being cute. As usual.

Lucy loves babies so much, she often tries to act like one. Actually, this is probably because she likes swings so much . . . and bouncing. Either way, I'm not sure how much longer this thing will survive if she keeps doing this. But she loves it so much, it's hard to say no.

Porter sleeps with 3 stuffed animals every night. Hop, Rockwell, and Big-Head-Bear. It's a pretty crowded bed. And every morning, he comes into our bedroom carrying all three. He drops them on my floor or on my bed. It drives me crazy that I have to pick those up and put them back in his room every day. But I love how stinkin' cute he is with his arms full of stuffed animals every morning.

this girl is two! . . . a month ago

Last month, this little girl doubled her age. I finally got her birthday post up on her journal blog. I'll just share a few highlights here . . .

We strayed from traditional cake & ice cream and had BYU mint brownies and BYU sparkle sherbet for her dessert. She refused to get messy last year . . . we had no problems with that this year!

I love traditions. And we have more than a few of those for birthdays. On Lucy's first birthday, all of her pink balloons got loose and floated into the sky just before her party. Porter cried and cried and still talks about the sad day when all the balloons floated away. This year, we made it a tradition by sending them off on purpose. But when we went back into the house, we found Porter hoarding 4-5 balloons in a corner! Poor kid. Some of our traditions may be a little traumatizing, I suppose.

A few things about you at this stage . . . {from Lucy's journal blog}

• weight: 27 lbs (65th percentile)
• height: 36" (96th percentile)
• at your 2-year check-up, you screamed and sobbed when the nurse took your temperature and measured your height but didn't even flinch when you got a shot
• you have the cutest, sweetest voice I've ever heard
• you can recognize the color pink
• you are a picky, picky eater
• you LOVE to dance 
• your favorite bedtime lullaby is "Twinkle, Twinkle," you call it "Toink, Toink"
• you sleep from 7:30pm-7:30am and you nap around 1:00-4:00pm
• you like to sleep on your tummy
• you put yourself in time-out when you do something wrong
• you like to snuggle
• you love to jump
• you want to be held all the time
• sometimes you go off by yourself and play quietly or read books on your own
• you are a perfect little mommy to your dollies- you feed them, give them naps, and take them on walks
• you love being outside
• you don't like to watch television
• you can say prayers all by yourself
• nicknames: Loose Goose, Lucy Goosey, Sweetsie Lou, Lucilia Gracious, Sweetheart, Lula Bell, Lucy Lou Who, Sweetie Pie, Sweets (we use nicknames a lot around here!)
• you love to wear jewelry
• you love friends and like to say hi to everyone (except when you're feeling shy)
• you always say "thanks" when you get something
• you say "helpful" when you're being helpful
• you climb on everything- you are fearless on playground equipment and stubborn about climbing into your carseat or onto the changing table all by yourself
• you love doggies
• you often refer to yourself in the third-person, and you call yourself "see" (the last syllable of lucy)
• when you want to go outside, you always ask "see side?" (see for lucy, side for outside), and mommy and daddy always make a joke about you going to the seaside instead, we think we're pretty funny
• you love to wear sunglasses and you call them "eyes" . . . "see's eyes"

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.