Two peas in a pod

Last weekend we had the opportunity to watch my nephew Mack. Josh and Mack are 3 months apart and have just recently started being the best of buds. Josh constantly asks if Mack is coming over or if he can go to Mack's house. He just loves to hang out with him.

So anyhow, Josh was starting to get pretty cranky because he had not had a nap that day so I decided to lay them down to see if they would fall asleep. I laid them both down in Josh's bed and then gave them both milk. They drank their milk and then had about a 30 minute conversation and fell asleep.

The conversation was so funny that I ended up recording some of it on my video camera. Unfortunately it is not new enough that I can post that but I did take pictures also. The conversation went from saying scooby scooby doo to Josh saying " Fart" and Mack replying " can Macky let a fart to? Macky let stinky fart, Mack let stinky poo poo fart" It was so funny. Then Josh started to dose off and Mack kept saying boo to Josh and Josh was getting irritated saying "stop that" Mack proceeded to continue on and Josh finally rolled over smacked mack on the arm and said Stop it and fell asleep. About five minutes later Mack was out to.

Pictures from Ashy's 6th Birthday (three Birthday Parties)

I will let the pictures do the talking. I broke my hand the other day and typing one handed does not appeal to me. Enjoy!

Spring to Summer Update

Well school is out and for the most part summer is practically here. We have had an eventful year and have enjoyed it for the most part. The kids are growing and life is crazy.

Ashlyn just finished up Kindergarten. She struggled through a lot of it. She was not used to getting up early and moving quickly to get out of the house. She is a slow mover for the most part. She had a hard time with the fact that girls at the ages of 5 and 6 can already be petty and snobby. By the end of the year she had a complete turn around. She made some good friends and started to enjoy going to school.

When I would drop Ashlyn off at school she had a little 1st or 2nd grade boy who was African American wait for her and walk her in to the school. It was the cutest thing ever. If he was not there it seemed like she always had a boy there to walk her into school. I think we might be in trouble if she already has the boys wrapped around her finger. At the end of the year they do a music dance festival. Ashlyn was so darn cute. She loves to sing and dance and she had to have been the cutest one out there for sure. Anyhow my little girl is getting all grown up and I am so proud of how well she is doing and the person she is becoming.

Now there is Josh. Josh through the school year has kept himself entertained by making mess after mess. He enjoys playing with match box cars and having long conversations with those cars as he plays. He even named some of his cars after his aunt's and uncles. Toshya is a yellow tow truck and Craig is a purple race car. Ash is Lightning McQueen, I am sally, Josh is Mater, and Mark is Dinaco. He also loves playing with Ashlyn's Dora doll house and acts out the show as it is on TV with his toys. He has a good imagination and really cracks me up.

Josh is also quite the singer. When we are in the car he loves to sing any song he knows. He loves singing songs by The Frey, Carolina Liar, All American Rejects, and Taylor Swift. I must say he has a pretty good voice and holds out his notes pretty good for a two year old. He still loves trains and gets so excited when we see one when we are driving. He also loves to say fancy that to things he finds fancy.

Lastly I wanted to talk about the words No Fear. My kids, and mostly Josh seemed to have not fear. We took them to Lagoon last Saturday and Josh wanted to ride on the colossus but was too short. He was so mad when we said he could not ride it. He and Ashlyn both went on the mini rocket ride there. It is like the rocket but not as high. Still scary to Mark and I but not scary to the kids. Josh and Ashlyn just giggled as they rode it and watching them ride it was priceless. We had to take them on it 3 times before we could move to another ride. The also enjoyed the log ride and of course the children dragon roller coaster. So even if Lagoon is totally over priced and a total rip off, it was so worth it to watch the kids have so much fun and have an enjoyable time.

Easter 2009

Here are some pictures from Easter at my dad's house and also the kids playing in their new play room.

The kids are doing real well Ashlyn is growing up on me so fast. Ever since she started Kindergarten she comes home with some funny new words. The other day she said "that is so freaking funny" I had never heard her use the word Freaking. It was funny. When school gets out for the year she is going to get her tonsils out. She has sleep apnea and when she gets home from school you can tell she did not get her R.E.M sleep. A nap is definitely necessary for her. Anyhow she gets more beautiful by the day and she is a great kid.

Josh on the other hand is quite the opposite of Ash. He loves to tease Ashlyn and it drives her crazy. In the car Josh sings to any song on the radio. He actually knows the words to any popular song. I get a kick out of listening to him. The other day he started singing the All American Rejects new song which I promise I do not intentionally listen to and loves to sing "hope he gives you hell" But it sounds like he is saying El instead of Hell. Josh loves trains still and is in to Thomas the train right now. He is one happy kid.

Overall we are all doing good. Mark is extremely busy with school and work. I keep busy with the kids and working from home. I am not sure where all the time goes in life right now but one day I look forward to it slowing down. That is all I have to say.

Front Runner

Yesterday we decided to take a trip up to SL to ride the Front Runner trains. Josh loves trains so much and can be coerced into doing anything if it involves a train. For instance he is on antibiotics right now and we will say if you drink your medicine we will drive over train tracks today. He will happily take the medicine with such a simple bribe. Fortunately we have to drive over train tracks to go anywhere from where we live, so it is not that big of a hassle. Also Josh is very shy around people he does not see a lot and usually will not leave my side. The other day we went to visit my Grandpa for his 90th birthday. As we walked in my aunt Karen said hi to him and he walked by with his head down not giving her the time of day. My aunt Karen asked about 1 minute later if he wanted to go see her trains and he said yes, grabbed her hand and went down stairs with her and did not even say bye to Mark or I.

With all that said Mark and I have been very busy. Mark with school and work and both of us with house projects and the kids. So took a day off and drove to SL. We ate lunch at the one and only McDonald's and then hopped on the Front Runner to Ogden. Ashlyn and Josh were both smiling ear to ear. Who knew such a cheap activity could make two young children so happy? They both sat at the window with their heads glued to it watching everything they passed and the trains that passed them. We saw a man roasting a pig on a stick, trashy yards, freight trains, and other Front Runner Trains pass us by. Ashlyn said that when the Front Runner passed it made her busy which means dizzy.

Josh was in his form as he laughed, giggled, and talked the entire train ride about everything he could. On the way home it was a different story. His eyes got hazy and just as we pulled back in to SL Josh was out like a light. Anyhow here are some pictures that speak for most of the day. On the way home we stopped for Banbury Cross Donuts not because we needed them but because they are yummy.

Valentine's Day

Mark had to go to school all day for Valentine's day so I decided to make a nice dinner at home with the family. I didn't want to fight the crowds and kids when I knew I could make a great dinner from home. Not only did I make a great dinner including Steak and Lobster Tails, but I made a fancy dessert. A girl in my ward taught me how to make this and I just made a few changes to the recipe to make it how I would want it. We had White chocolate bowls that I personally made. Inside the bowls were Chocolate Cake Squares, White Chocolate Mousse, a yummy almond whip cream, sprinkled with a little cocoa powder. I invited Marks parents over to try it and it was delicious. Anyhow Here are some pictures of the yummy food we had.