Cracking Up

Jax thinks it's hilarious to storm into the bathroom while I'm in it. He pushes open the door and comes tromping in with a mischievous smile on his face. He could care less what I'm doing in there, as long as he gets to interrupt it. However, one day he got me on my way out, hitting me with the door. The bonk, followed by the surprised "oof" that came out of my mouth sent him into hysterical laughter. So, of course, being the type of mother who will do just about anything to hear her kids laugh, I let him continue to attack me with the door, and each time I pretended I was surprised. Ava got in on the fun and the laughter that followed made me smile so big my face actually hurt. Andy, being the good dad he is, grabbed the camera and immediately began recording.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Summer

When we stepped off the plane in Arizona last week, I remembered why I don't miss it. There's nothing fun about walking into a giant blow dryer. How I survived 23 years in the sweltering heat of Phoenix and Tucson, I'll never know. What I do know is stepping off the plane in SLC felt heavenly... as opposed to, well, the other option.

We've been blessed with some lovely weather here in our neck of the woods. Not too hot, but warm enough for shorts. A gentle breeze in the afternoon and cool, relaxing, sweat-free nights. Love it! As do the kiddos. If Ava sees sun outside in the morning she assumes we should be in it. I can't blame her. So, outside of the normal every-day errands, I've been trying to get the kiddos and I as much face time with good ol' Mr. Sun as possible (don't worry, face time includes vats of sunblock).

Last year we got Ava this cute little Elmo sprinkler for the backyard. It hooks up to the hose and then twirls around spraying water. Ava loves jumping over or trying to escape the water streams.Taking a break

Jax, on the other hand... well, he didn't know what to think. Despite his love of "Elbo" as he calls him, he wasn't a big fan of the Elmo spraying him with water. So, the little mancub made like a bull and attacked the furry red guy.



When he finally realized that Elmo meant no harm, Jax joined in the watery fun... at a distance.
Ahhh... I just love summer. Oh, I should mention that tonight we consumed almost an entire watermelon (with the help of my wonderful friend Joni and Ava's Little Buddy Ethan). Of that's not a sign of summer, I don't know what is!

Sunshine, Glorious Sunshine!!

I've been going a little crazy lately. You see, in our little corner of the world, there hasn't been much sun as of late. There's been plenty of snow, plenty of rain, plenty of clouds, but not a whole lotta sun. Oh, and did I mention it's frigid?! I miss Arizona.

Well, today the heavens opened up and shone down on our backyard. Okay, it shone on the entire city, but all I cared about was our backyard. Because sunshine in the backyard meant we got to go outside and play. HALLELUJAH!!! It was wonderful!! Ava's little buddy Ethan came over for a play date. The kids rode bikes, played ball, dug in the dirt. It was a little glimpse of spring... with coats and cold hands. But still, it was still a glimpse.

"Queen of the Mountain!!!"

Ava & Ethan

Jax took his first crawl around the backyard. Of course, I had to fish grass, leaves and rocks out of his mouth a few times. But hey, he's a boy, I should get used to it, right?

A Lovely Afternoon

Halloween is two days away and we are just carving our pumpkin. The delay was due greatly in part to Ava's inability to decide what she wanted carved into her pumpkin (a bird, a happy face, a witch, a house, a princess, a silly face) and mine and Andy's hectic schedules. I knew that we couldn't go on like this much longer or Halloween would pass and we'd finally have a carved pumpkin on our porch November 1st. It's like those people who still have their Christmas trees up in mid-January. So, I manned-up and, armed with a carving knife, a plastic scoopy thing and a couple of designs, I took the kids outside and we tore into the pumpkin. Ava never could decide on just one feature for our pumpkin, so we went with two. Why let a perfectly good pumpkin side go to waste? So, if you were to walk in front of our pumpkin you'd be greeted by a silly face, but go behind, and oh, there's a crow. We're fancy!

Ava and her pumpkin... and some leaves in her hand.

Now, if you ask Ava, she'll tell you that "WE" carved the pumpkin when in all actuality I carved, she took a few pumpkin seeds out, told me it was slimy inside the pumpkin and went about her business, occasionally asking, "Are you done yet, Mommy?" Jax, meanwhile, sat in his exersaucer on the back patio, and, promptly stuck any leaves that fell from the trees in his mouth. So, Ava's job became less about pumpkins and more about keeping her little brother from choking on a leaf. It all worked out.

After the great pumpkin carving extravaganza we pulled a blanket outside, enjoyed the gorgeous weather - sunny and 70 with a light breeze, and made leaf rubbings. However, the leaf rubbings were not nearly as interesting as the katydid crawling on our blanket. Ava watched that thing for a good half hour. We talked the whole time, of course, and it provided me a great opportunity to teach her about camoflauge, why birds eat bugs ("That's disgusting. I don't eat bugs!") and the ingredients in pumpkin pie (she wanted to know).

Checking out the katydid

It was just one of those great afternoons, playing in the backyard with my kids, looking at bugs, playing hide-and-seek. Perfect!