The Last Month

Holy Moses!! It has been so long since I posted anything, but we have seriously been going non-stop! I have a love/hate relationship with summer right now: I LOVE that it is so much fun and there is always something to do with someone, but I HATE that I am so run down and tired. My house is really showing it. I'm keeping up with the dishes, laundry, etc. but the deep cleaning has gone down the drain. Right now I can't even remember the last time I mopped my kitchen for real. Not the I'm-gonna-cheat-and-just-mop-the-crap-I-can-see, but the real move-the table-and-chairs-into-the-living-room-kind. And same with the bathroom, I've only "deep cleaned" it probably twice this summer (no judging) and the rest of the time has been cheating with the Clorox wipes and toilet brush. I'm hoping that once school starts things will slow back down, at least just a little. Here's some totally random pictures of what's been going on.

I went to Rigby Lake with Liz, Raini and their kids. It was fun, but Raini and I had to cut it short for a staff meeting.

Once Mason was on this thing he did not want to get off. He literally stayed on it the entire time and I had to pry him off kicking and screaming so we could leave.

This is obviously before Mason claimed it, but Chloe liked it too, as long as it was no where near the water!

Gavin caught and tamed Jaws while we were there so that he had something to ride

Gavin and Ryver

One of the many picnics we have had in our back yard this summer

Chloe was telling Bud "No-no" because she thought he was trying to eat her food

Everytime the kids see that camera they say "Cheese"

See what I mean?

Gavin is really into pulling faces now. It's hard to get a serious one out of that kid

This was the breakfast I made for my kids one morning. Mason and Chloe really didn't care and Gavin just wanted to know why I did it and when I told him it was just for fun to make him giggle he told me I was just being weird.

Chloe's first black eye

Picnic Table = 1 Chloe = 0

It happened Sunday night but didn't show up until Monday morning. I forgot about the table so I was looking all over in her crib to see what could have caused it and then I remembered. It progressively got worse from Mon-Thurs and now (a week and a half later) you can't really tell it was there.

Luke and Gavin

They had their faces painted at Luke's ward party

Gavin, Madisen, Chet and Mason

Another day at the lake with Chelsea, Jamie, and Ashley. My bro-in-law Chet was sick of being home so he came with his two girls. This was the only pic I got all day, I have really been a slacker.

 Gavin's back to wearing his summer boots in the summer

Mason just being cute

Bailee and Brigham

We had family pictures this week all of us stopped at Reed's Dairy on the way home. The little kids were such a mess, but they sure loved their ice cream!

Another messy kid!

 They have calves there for you to pet and when I was a little girl my grandma Butikofer showed us how you could put your hand in the calves mouths and they will suck on it like a bottle. I hadn't done it in over 20 years so I did it for old times sake. It is still the weirdest feeling ever and no it doesn't hurt

 I even talked my nephew into doing it and he was giggling about it.

 Chet and Madisen

 We bought bunk beds for the boys and finally got them up yesterday. Mason is now in a big boy bed, but they aren't getting much sleep. Gavin loves having a roommate and they stay up way past bedtime laughing, giggling and having a good time. Late last night I thought I heard them and I found both of them on Gavin's top bunk with the flashlight drinking Sprite! Maybe this wasn't such a good idea!

Chloe throwing a tantrum. ; )

 Some of pictures were taken in a wheat field and Gavin kept a stalk of wheat. This morning Cody got out the wheat grinder and the two of them ground up a bunch of wheat into flour.

 Then they used it to make homemade bread. Gavin was so excited. His favorite part was kneading the break but he was really just using his ninja skills and super hero powers on it to beat it up.

 Look, I do exist! I'm usually on the other side of the camera.

The boys playing on their bunk beds

FORGET-ME-NOTS

Chloe loves to be read too. She brings me books all day so I try to stop what I am doing and read them to her. Pretty soon the boys start bringing me some and we spend the next hour just reading until they are to wiggly to sit still. She is either packing around books, her "baby" (which is any of her dolls) or shoes and it doesn't matter whose, she just likes to pack them around. She likes to pull wipes or tissues out and then "blow" her nose. She is talking more and will repeat what you say when you are reading a book and it's funny how she interprets what you are saying. She is still super ticklish and she is FINALLY over 20 lbs at 19 1/2 months old!! She must have a crazy metabolism because she eats more than Mason all the time. I don't know where she puts it all!

Mason is talking up a storm and will finally sit through and entire story or two and sometimes even three. He copies EVERYTHING that Gavin does which isn't always a good thing, but it's so fun to watch the two of them interact and play together. He still packs around his "rag" (flannel burp cloths) sometimes but is very seldom sucking his thumb. He only does it when he's is really tired now so it's easy to tell when it's nap time. He eats all the time. If he see's food, even if it's right after dinner, he will tell you "I want some". I don't know where he puts it either. He loves to be outside and gets mad when I won't let him out. He still hates to have his hair rinsed in the tub, but he will let you brush his teeth all day, everyday if you wanted. TMI: He still has the nastiest poops ever and his diapers are now referred to as "Death Bombs" in my extended family!!Good thing he knows how to use his brown puppy dog eyes and cute smile to his advantage!!

Gavin cannot wait for school to start. He asks me everyday "how many more days until I start school?" We went and got his school supplies today and he already has them packed in his back pack all ready to go. He is still asking thousands of questions a day about all kinds of things: Where does the water go after it leaves the water tower? What does a uvula do? How big is the sun? What is it made out of? What are bones made out of? What does your liver do?" Some days I am so mentally exhausted from answering all of his questions it hurts to think!! We were driving home from somewhere the other day and he wanted to see how high he could count before we got home. He got to over 400! I didn't even know he could count that high! Cody and I can't spell words like I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M or  M-O-V-I-E in front of him now either, he's got us figured out. His current favorite color is now orange like Cody's and his word of the day/week/month right now is INFINITY. He pulls faces almost all the time in pictures now and he cried yesterday when he got his hair cut because they didn't make him "bald" (a buzz cut). I told him he had to wait until after family pictures. Today was the best though. We were getting his school supplies and he disappeared for a minute and then reappeared with a bouquet of real flowers for me!! I teared up, he is such a thoughtful sweetheart!!

Payphone by Maroon 5 is currently the song that gets cranked up every time it comes on the radio, Cody included. Gavin even recorded it on his Leap Pad so he can listen to it whenever he wants too.

When I brush the kids teeth I always sing: "Brush-a Brush-a Brush a-make your teeth so pretty" I don't really know why I just started doing it years ago when I was brushing Gavin's teeth. Gavin recently replaced "pretty" with "golden". Not sure what that's about, but I think it's kinda funny.