Summer

I'm so sad that summer is almost over.  We go to Utah next weekend and then when we get back school starts that week.  I'm trying to enjoy our last unscheduled fun-filled days.  Here are a few things that I've loved about this summer:

• listening to Kate read books and more books to Jack and me.
• spending hours at the pool watching my kids turn into little fish
• riding bikes waiting for Dave to come home from work
• playing at the park while Kate practices monkey bars
• playdates with friends (my friends and the kids' friends)
• spending lots of unscheduled time with my kids
• visiting family
• eating lots of good food
• Los Alamos weather (lots of rain)
• early morning runs

I snapped a few pictures of the kids last night while we were waiting for Dave to come home from work.

Kate was showing me her gymnastics skills

Jack and I (and Ty too) played a little game of soccer

One Year Old Ty

Well, now that Ty is officially one, he's decided to act older.  It's amazing to me the things he's started doing in the last week.

He was holding a ball the other day and said "ba".  Then after he gave it a hug, he threw it.
Ty has a fascination w/the stairs.  This morning while I was in the shower he sneaked out of the bathroom (I didn't latch the door) and was sitting on the top step when I found him.  He loves to throw things down the stairs too.  This is how Ty goes down the stairs. 

Step 1 -- turn around on the step

Step 2 -- sit on the step

Step 3 -- jump up and down and scare your mom to death (and no, he's not on the bottom step in this picture, I cropped the picture a little too much)

Step 4 -- try to get your legs out from underneath you w/out falling

Ty loves to be with the kids.  Whereever they are, he tries to go too.  That means if they are outside riding bikes, he wants to be out there too, not inside w/me while I try to make dinner.  Ty loves me to push him around on his little bike.  It's a great bum exercise for me. :)

Ty LOVES to play the piano.  I think it's from spending hours and hours sitting on my lap while I taught piano lessons. 

I taught Ty the sign for more the other day.  I've been amazed at how fast he picked up on it.  He's signed it on his own a few times and I haven't even shown it to him very much.  It's nice to know what he wants. 

Sprinkler Running

Yep, my kids ran through the sprinkler the other day at 8:00 in the morning in their pajamas.  It was supposed to be pretty hot that day, so they got a jump start on staying cool.

Solo Trip to Utah with the Kiddies

Last week I drove to Utah all by myself with the kids.  Dave couldn't get away from work, so we were tough and went by ourselves.  The kids did pretty well on the drive.  Kate told me that she wished Grandma and Grandpa lived in Santa Fe. 

We left on Wednesday, July 14th at 11:00 and got to Castle Dale at 9:00.  Before we left LA, Ty and Jack had well-checks at the doctor and both of them had shots.  We stopped in Pagosa Springs to eat lunch, Cortez to gas-up, and Moab for dinner.  We spent the night at the Judi's then the next morning we headed over the mountain to Fairview.

Here's some of what we did:

Saw Grandpa's colt, Penny

This is how my dad keeps his lawn short.

Took a drive to Clear Creek to check on the house construction (click here for more pictures of the house) and said hi to Grandma and Grandpa Judi, Derek, and Geoff and his family.  Jack immediately started crying when he saw Haley pulling nails out of the wall, because he wanted to work too.  Grandpa Judi gave him a hammer and put him to work.

Took the kids (and Emmy and Grandpa and Steven) to see Toy Story at the Drive-In

Took the kids to the Lamb Day Parade in Fountain Green (and introducted them to salt water taffy)

I snapped this picture of Ty after he'd been in the car for about 30 seconds.  He loved the parade and wouldn't fall asleep until it was over.

Took the kids to see the Manti Temple

Went on rides on Grandpa's 4 wheeler.  Jack and I rode down to the end of the lane and touched the gate.  (Jack ran to the end of the road and back w/me one day too.)  I love that my dad rides his four-wheeler to work. Only in Fairview...

Played lots with Grandpa, Grandma, Emmy and Steven.  Ty warmed up to Grandpa pretty well.

And we got to see Grandma on stage in the Fairview Follies.  We went to her show two nights.

Then we got back in the van and drove home.  Thanks everyone for letting us come visit. 

How the Boys Measure Up

I took Ty and Jack to the doctor last Wednesday for their yearly checkups. Here's how they measure up:

Jack:
Weighs 34 lbs (26.83%)
Height 40.75 inches

So, Jack gained absolutely NO weight in the last year, but he grew almost 4 inches.  If I only I ran around as much as he did and couldn't hold still during meal time, then I would weigh less too.

Ty:
Weighs: 19.25 lbs (6.3%)
Height: 29.25 inches (33.58)%

Ty gained 1 pound in the last three months and grew almost three inches.

Soccer Camp Week Two

Kate and Jack both did soccer camp every afternoon this week.  They had swimming lessons the last two weeks too.  Jack made huge advances, since now he's not afraid to go under water and get his head wet.  Kate is a little fish and loved learning new strokes and ways to swim and float.

Jack was serious as ever during soccer.  He loved it!

My friend, Emily, helped me put #4s on the backs of Jack's shirts.  Now I don't have to put numbers on his shirts with masking tape anymore.  He loves it!  Kate made a #6 on her soccer shirt.

Jack and his friends, Eddie and Ty, hanging out during Kate's soccer camp time.

Birthday Boy

Ty's birthday was like mini-holiday at our house.  The kids were amazed that they still had to go to swimming lessons and soccer camp on Ty's birthday.  The kids helped me wrap presents and decorated the downstairs after Ty went to bed on his birthday eve. 

We made Ty some birthday pancakes for breakfast.  Then we let him open his presents.  He was pretty into it, but Kate and Jack were too.

 

 Kate's present to Ty

 

Jack helping open his present for Ty -- he was pretty excited.

 

 Jack gave Ty a bath toy boat that lights up and makes noise.

 

 Ty's present from everyone

 

 They all love this toy (a car carrier).

 

 Cake time!

 

 Ty helped himself to the end of the cake while I was cutting pieces from the other end.

 

Then I gave him his own piece on a plate with a fork. Frosting anyone?

 

 Happy Birthday sweet Ty!

Ty's One!

Can you believe Ty is one today?  Time has flown by faster than I'd like it to.  Here's proof of how fast he's grown up.

July 9, 2009 Birth day!

8 weeks old

4 months old

6 months

10 months

11.5 months old (I love his eyes and messy face)

Here's what one year old Ty can do:

• stand up for about a second before he leans over to me.
• scoot on his bum (no normal crawling for him)
• sleep through the night
• prefers to eat big person food and loves whole milk
• has slept through the night so long that I can't remember when the last time was I had to get up with him
• waves, claps and dances
• sort of blows kisses (nighttime routine)
• says hi, dadada
• pushes cars 
• loves playing catch and throws balls
• loves water -- baths, swimming, sticking his feet in the sink in the bathroom, etc.
• loves to try to crawl outside through any door that is left open
• can go up the stairs, but is not to be trusted on them
• can go up the first rung of the bunk bed ladder
• takes great naps in his crib, and not so great naps anywhere else
• is adored by everyone in our family.  You'd think by the third kid that I wouldn't be so amazed at everything he does.  I could watch him all day.

Reading

I snapped the picture of the kids today.  Kate was reading library books to Jack.  It was so nice!  Kate is gaining confidence in her reading ability every day.  It's amazing to watch someone learn how to read.  At the library today Kate picked out 10 of the 13 books that we checked out and she can read all of them.

Happy July 4th, I mean 3rd!

We celebrated July 4th a day early this year, since the 4th is on a Sunday.  We went to the parade and carnival that the White Rock ward puts on.  The kids rode their bikes in the parade.  The carnival part of it was great since Kate was very independent and played a lot of the games by herself while Jack and I were doing other things. 

What could be better than a morning full of parade, games, snow cones, popcorn, face painting, and prizes?

The kids getting ready to ride their bikes in the parade

Ty checking out his balloon. . . string

Jack riding in the parade (Kate was way ahead of me most of the time, so I couldn't get a good picture)

Jack waiting to play the "knock over the bottle tower with a ball" game

Kate throwing the hoop over a duck

Jack fishing

Three legged race

The kids loved their squirt gun prizes

We had a little backyard BBQ -- Ty really wanted to eat some corn.