Sarah's selfie of her favorite boots

I love the colors in this picture. 

Specifically the hair (but you already knew that.)

Kitties and life lessons

Oh my John. So challenging, but so cute!!

Will's road rash nose.

I took him out to the car the other day and set him down on the driveway and off he went lightning fast into the street. He thought it was great fun being chased by mom until he bit it.

Dang those natural consequences.

And here he is mauling the neighbor's kittens. He's so desperate to hold them but just doesn't get the idea that they are living things yet so he can only hold them long enough for me to try to get a shot and then we have to take them away again.

Course then he's mad.

Bummer.

John's future is revealed in a crystal ball

Oh. I see it too, John. 

Or something like that . . .

Spelling is not her strong point . . .

Here is a photo of a recent email from Rebecca:

This screen phono comes after a long period of scrolling through a seemingly endless number of "EVER"s. It has come to her attention that sometimes when she doesn't log out of her email account there may have been a few instances when I saw words like "Super Secret!" and I knew I must read on.
For safety's sake.

Her friends recoiled in horror at the thought of Rebecca's-Evil-Facebook-Password-Changing-Mom when I decided she was spending too much time on it and not enough on brain-stimulating activities, family togetherness, cleaning or otherwise helping in the house, reading a book or (please no!) catching up on some homework. 

The good news is that she wasn't talking about dying, but actually dieting. Much less concerning. 
Rebecca. You kill me. 
Though I'm very glad I'm not having to hear your dying words since I don't know what I'd do without you--I must admit to being curious about what exactly would constitute "dieting words."

Provo "Chalk the Block" Art Festival

Spent Saturday evening with John, Peter, Will, and Rebecca looking at the artists work at the Provo Riverwoods. Saw an article for it in the paper and decided we needed to check it out since we hadn't been before.

John liked the Superheroes.

Of course.

And Adventure Time. 

And Aztecs rescuing damsels in distress?

I loved this one, since you know, Benedict Cumberbatch is my all time favorite Sherlock Homes. 
(Robert Downey is still the hottest) 
Masterpiece Theater just keep 'em comin'. 

Liked this one too of women fashion through the decades.

Will got tired . . . 
then perked right up when he got two chicks from the Blickenstaff's Toy Store. Yahoo!

 (He's so freakin' cute.)

John learns something new

I'd left out this comic because I thought it was quite a good one. John came in and was reading it and then wanted to know who it was. I told him it was the President of the United States. 
"The President? Of the whole United States?"
"That's the one."
"But why does he have brown skin?"
Oh John. Where have you been?
Evidently our parenting has been lacking in some areas. But honestly it's kind of a touchy subject in these parts seeing how his dad has some strong negatory opinions of our current president. I have my own opinions of course, but I keep them mostly to myself as in general I'm not a fan of talking politics. No sense in biasing our kids yet. I guess sometimes I think let's let them learn the good before they find out the bad, right?

Will's Five Step Program

1. Get the ball. 

2. Run to the street. 

3. Throw ball in street. 

4. Watch mom retrieve. 

5. Repeat over and over.

Yard Sales

Been doing a lot of shopping at yard sales lately. A friend in my ward (who also happens to be an expert yard saler/deal finder) goes with me and I've scored some great stuff.

Here is clothes from Saturday's haul. I hit the jackpot that day for Will, John and Rebecca. Gap, Gymboree, Aeropostale, and a bunch of other places that have some pretty cute kids clothes. I even found two new pairs of Rebecca's favorite Old Navy skinny jeans in her size. I can't really buy many clothes for Sarah or Nathaniel at yard sales and I still have to buy John's lined pants from Lands End-- as well as other must-haves-- but this has really opened my eyes to what I can get for getting up early on Saturday mornings. Peter asked me what I think the savings was. I'd say about 90-95% off what I can get an item on sale from the store.

Yesterday a girl asked her where she got her cute shirt. Rebecca told her the truth, which I think is funny. The girl looked a bit taken and then annoyed that she didn't know where to go out and find one for herself.

Here is a sampling of Will's toys I got at yard sales. You can watch the video of Will enjoying the toy that retails on Amazon for 80 bucks that I bought for a dollar here.

If I was really looking for a particular thing for a particular day (like his birthday) I paid a bit more (like the riding lady bug Will uses as a walker) that retails for $60 and I got for $20 and found them on KSL, which is like Utah's Craig's List.

I don't buy a lot of furniture because I only like to get things I need and I don't need much but this was something I wanted to put in my laundry room. Pretty beat up but a solid and well made piece of furniture. Got it for $5 and refinished it:

Before. 
And after.
Cha-Ching!

(That cubby is just calling out to me for a cute basket to put lost socks in.)


Not that I don't pay the price in other ways sometimes. Here is my house on Saturday night after an extended morning of yard sales followed by a nap, Saturday errands, kids homework, and bringing dinner to a family in the ward:

Why do I think I can nap when the family is at home?

Time for shoes

Not so big on the whole putting shoes on babies thing. Never really was. The flip side of that is that now with him wanting to walk all around outside and all over filthy store floors the time has come to change that. So here we have Will's first experience wearing shoes. 
Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQzZ_7xbRmk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUBcgK3MqkeDvR53k6uSETYw

Kind of reminds me of this video. Dogs. They kill me.

On my front door

Clear enough for you?

Babyproofing

Now that Will is becoming more and more mobile he is also becoming more and more devious as depicted in this picture to the left on the box of wipes that some anonymous child of mine took the sharpie to. (Lovely art work, though a little dark for my taste.)
 This deviousness is not surprising-- I knew it was coming sooner than later. Still, I was hoping for later. 
Much. Later.

Sigh*

Turns out Will is much like normal toddlers with an inborn sense of longing for those things which are most dangerous, expensive, messy, etc. Isn't it so ironic how happy a toddler is when they are holding an object they know they shouldn't have? It produces the most giddy of happiness.
Too bad mom keeps taking those things away.

Opening drawers, cupboards, swiping things off tables, pulling things out of the dishwasher; the full blown stage of baby proofing has begun.

The toilet seems to be the object of greatest pleasure. First he gets to stick his hands in there, maybe fish something out, maybe throw something in, then in comes mom with that funny look on her face and making that alarming sound and she washes his hands and that's kind of fun. It can just go on and on like that with four other children who continually forget to shut the bathroom door.
So after much research on Amazon this week I installed these:

Works like a charm. Except when Nathaniel's friends come over to play video games on Friday night and drink one Dr Pepper after another and then come upstairs to find that the toilet is so close, but yet sooo far. Apparently somebody couldn't figure out how to use it and I found the disassembled toilet lock on top of the sink. Heh heh. Maybe I need to post an instructional diagram? Have a little training session for all the friends?

Anyhoo-- today marks the third day of the fever portion of this lovely flu I find myself saddled with in honor of the beginning of another school year. Despite this--and a few other rather unreliable sets of eyes that were supposed to be "helping your mom get some sleep"-- I was having to peel myself repeatedly out of bed to do damage control:

Exhibit A
Bowl left by John a little too close to the edge. My Corelle is slowly biting the dust on this beautiful but very sturdy tile floor. The dishes never seem to win and when they hit the floor it sounds a bit like a glass explosion.

Exhibit B
A frame I had sitting on my desk in the kitchen. It's been there about six months waiting for my Type A self to find the perfect place to hang it. Will has solved that problem nicely.









And lastly 
Exhibits C

Will was evidently hungry and decided to head for the bread drawer. 
He looks satisfied, does he not?
Conclusion: Mom must never get sick again.

Also?

All Hail
The Yardstick.
(and the broom. . .
and the mop. . .
and the vacuum . . .)