August Quotes

Rylan
(August 9, 2011)
Me: "What should we get daddy for his birthday?"
Ry: "A new iPod."
Me: "Daddy already has an iPod. Why should we get him a new one?"
Ry: "Because I want one!"

After buying Kevin a birthday present...
Me: "Remember we want this to be a surprise so don't tell daddy."
A few seconds later...
Ry: "I think I can't wait. I think I just want to tell him right now!"

(August 17, 2011)
Rylan saw something on tv that reminded him of the balls that go through tubes at the Discovery Museum. Since then he's been begging to go.
Ry: "The only thing as fun as the Discovery Museum and Kaleb and Kade's house IS the Discovery Museum and Kaleb and Kade's house."

(August 20, 2011)
Upon arriving at the Scera swimming pool...
Ry: "Mom, I'm so proud of you."
Me: "You are? Why?"
Ry: "Because you made daddy bring us here."

(August 31, 2011)
Holding up a crayon that doesn't have the wrapping...
"This crayon looks naked!"

Asher
(August 10, 2011)
Me: "Asher, it's time for nap."
Asher: "I don't want to take a nap."
Me: "Why?"
Asher: "Cause it's so boring."

(August 18, 2011)
While counting animals in The Lion King book (maybe one of his favorites)
Asher: "One, Two, Three, Four, Eight, Nine, no, no, no...Four, Eight, Nine, *uh* (with hands in the air) Where Five go?"

(August 28, 2011)
Asher was very sad because Rylan called him a 'baby'.
Kev: "Say 'Ry Ry, I'm not a baby, I'm a toddler'"
Asher: "I not a baby, I Asher!"

(August 30, 2011)
Me: "Asher, how high can you count? Can you count to 10?"
Asher, counting up from one (and doing really well, I think he only missed a couple numbers, going beyond 10) "...twenty eight, twenty nine, twenty ten, twenty eleven..."
Cute :)

August Picture Round-Up

(August 8, 2011)
Cute baby :)

(August 12, 2011)
Wowzers, I love my boys!

(August 16, 2011)
Soccer...or Mosh ball!

Look how orange!!

And playing at the park after the soccer game...

(August 18, 2011)
Rylan is always bringing toys for Tyce.

(August 25, 2011)
A rainbow!

(August 28, 2011)
Silly boy! I just love his eyes.

(August 29, 2011)
Smile!

My Big Kindergartener

My, oh my--Rylan started kindergarten! And I think he likes it!
We had waffles for breakfast (Ry's choice). Then Ry got dressed, brushed his teeth, got his flip flops on and he was ready to go. Kevin went in to work late so he could go with us to take Rylan on his first day of school. We cheated and drove over to my mom's house which is halfway between our house and the school. And then we walked the rest of the way :)



We all went inside the school to take Ry to his class. He held onto my hand so I went in the classroom to help him find his cubby and then his seat at the table. He acted a bit shy but didn't hesitate to sit down and say good bye to us. Kevin snapped a few photos and then we left. Well, actually we stood in the hall watching our big boy as he looked around the room, just sitting in his seat. His teacher helped distribute the toys in their bucket but Ry just held onto his, not playing. He later told me there was a table that got dominoes so I guess maybe he just wasn't interested in his particular toys (dinosaurs??).
We eventually left our boy there to learn, make friends, and have fun!
I walked back to the school to pick him up a short two hours later. Wow that went by fast! By the time we walked home, fed the baby, and cleaned up breakfast it was time to walk back to the school. Not much time to get anything done! His teacher walks them out of the school and out he came with a smile on his face. I gave him a big hug and asked him how his day was. He said 'good' and he was ready to go home. That was pretty much all I got out of him! I tried asking him throughout the day about what he did in class..read books? Math problems? Learn class rules? Learn names of kids in class? He continually said he didn't remember. "But I do remember we had recess."

Silly Boys

As for me...I didn't have much time in the morning to think about it. I was teary eyed walking him to school and of course I shed some tears once we got to his classroom. I was grateful I had my sunglasses :) As we were standing in the hall watching him I cried, looking at my sweet Ry Ry, now a kindergartener, growing up too fast. But...I'm so excited for him because I know he's ready to learn and have fun and grow. He's gonna love it! Miss Miles sure is lucky to have Rylan for 2 1/2 hours a day!

Little Getaway

Kevin and I were able to have a little alone time this past weekend--so nice!! Tyce joined us on our little getaway but he is such a good baby that he only added to the pleasantness of it all!
Several months ago Tami told Kevin about a good deal on a hotel in Park City. She convinced him to take me away for a half-surprise (she asked me first because I have such a hard time leaving my boys so she wanted to make sure I'd really do it!)
We had planned to go the weekend of our anniversary but it didn't work out so we had to postpone it and have a belated anniversary getaway!
Tami came and picked up Rylan and Asher on Friday afternoon. They were both more than excited to have a sleepover at Tami's house so I was the only one who shed tears :) After taking a deep breath and wiping away my tears I buckled Tyce in the car and we were off. We drove up to Kevin's work to pick him up and then the three of us were ready for a relaxing weekend.
On the way up to Park City I read to Kevin (The Maze Runner...I only read to him when we travel a distance so it's taking us a while to get through the book!). We showed up to our hotel and immediately turned on the tv and kicked up our feet. But that didn't last too long because we started to get hungry. We first stopped at the store to get some snacks which proved to be a bad idea since we were hungry. Too many snacks later (of course we didn't know it was too much at the time!) we headed to eat some Mexican food. (Oddly I was okay with eating at the same restaurant I ate at a few years ago with the Doyle girls. Several of us ended up with some stomach issues just in time for our breast cancer 5k the next morning. Yikes! So I was a bit scared when my food came out and I knew it was exactly what I had ordered that night. I remember my food a few years ago having a strange smell/taste but this night it seemed to be fine. I still couldn't eat the tamale but the rest of the food was good. And I didn't get sick!!)
We had originally thought we'd have a Harry Potter marathon but I forgot the movies so we stopped at Redbox instead. Not a surprise, I fell asleep during the movie (Adjustment Bureau) and didn't get to eat all those snacks-darn!
Saturday morning was relaxing. I watched some tv while in bed and Kev watched the History channel on the other tv. We took our time getting ready, missing out on a morning swim because we were too busy lounging :) We knew we wanted to do a little shopping so we packed up and away we went.
First, food. We stopped at Kneaders for a delicious sandwich, salad and cinnamon roll. Then we headed to the outlets looking for some soccer cleats for Kev (didn't find any) and some soccer shorts (found some!). I left with a couple shirts!
I called Tami on our way home and she so was so nice, letting me know the boys were doing great and we could go to a movie. Of course I was antsy and nervous and missing my boys as well as feeling guilty she had them so long. But Kev was willing to take advantage of the situation and wanted to go see Planet of the Apes. I guess I was willing to take advantage as well, because we went and enjoyed the movie!
I knew our boys wouldn't be thrilled to see us, wanting to stay there even longer. But Asher surprised me and said "I miss you at Tami's house"! I squeezed him and hugged him :) I'm sure it's because before they left on Friday I repeatedly told them I would miss them while they were at Tami's house, but I was still happy to hear it! They were eating pizza so we joined in and had a few pieces while they told us about how all the boys got to sleep downstairs together--fun! After dinner and talking we finally were able to round up the boys and get back home.
Ahhhh, fantastic weekend! Next year is our 10 year anniversary and I'm already thinking about what super fun vacation we can go on. Will I be able to leave my boys for more than one night? Will we enjoy a vacation as a family (cruise, maybe??!!) I love my hubby and I'm glad we were able to have this time together. He makes me happy :)

Love This Guy

Okay, do I have the absolute cutest baby ever, or what?!

Oh my gosh, he makes me laugh!!

Yummy!

I love raspberries! And so do my boys. So I've been anxious to get out and go pick some. Yesterday ended up working out for us and I was so glad.
After dropping Kevin off at the warehouse we headed over to Cornaby's in Salem. The nice old man gave us some buckets and off we went. The boys were really excited at first. They each picked about 20 raspberries and then were distracted by the raspberry picking machine.

I think that discouraged Ry a bit because he asked me if we could get our own machine so it would pick the raspberries faster! But we pushed on and kept our little fingers busy, picking nearly 3 pounds. I wanted more but it was getting hot, the boys were starting to throw dirt at each other, and it was getting close to lunch time. So after chatting with the nice old man and paying for our goods, we headed home to make some jam!

It took me all afternoon to get the jam made. It was only freezer jam so it should have been done in 5 minutes, but it wasn't. A minute here and a minute there got the job done. I only have 6 little bottles in my freezer--I'm for sure gonna have to go pick more. (Although a girl at book group last night told me about a place in Payson that's cheaper. It's the patch I went to last year so I might have to go find it again.)

Rylan had his kindergarten assessment this morning. Is it a bad sign for the first day of school when I nearly lost it at his assessment? I wasn't even thinking about how big he's getting but as soon as we saw his teacher I got tears in my eyes. I hurried him into the classroom so I could go in the hall and take a deep breath! I was filling out paperwork in the hall, with Asher and Tyce, trying to listen in. I didn't hear much but he seemed content and willing to show his teacher how smart he is. Afterward she told me he was right on track and he'll do really well in kindergarten. Of course he will! Miss Miles is real cute and I think Ry is gonna have a great year. There are some kids in his class that we know. Four of us from my book group have boys in the same class! There are a few more from our ward, too and another boy from Ry's preschool. He's gonna have fun! (I just can't believe I have a kindergartener!!)

Soccer

Rylan finished up his soccer season today and it was a success! Last year we signed him up for "Little Kickers" where the parents come and do drills with the kid and then the kids scrimmage together. It was a bad experience for us all. Ry was so not into it and it was frustrating to watch him just stand in the middle of the field or come sit on the sidelines. After a few of his comments we realized he just didn't like all the kids fighting for the one ball! We finished last year off convinced he was more of an individual sport player (tennis maybe?) rather than a team sport player.
So this year when Ry asked me if he could play soccer I laughed. I told Kevin and Kevin laughed. Ry asked again a day or two later. And then he asked again. I had reminded him how he didn't like it last year and he said he likes it now. Alright, I won't give up on him just yet :) So we signed him up, again for the Little Kickers, and I was stunned after the first day. He was a whole new kid out there! He was running and hustling and doing the best he could. After practice I told him he surprised me and he asked "Why, cause you thought I wasn't gonna do it?" It's true...but he did it! So this whole season he has been a hundred times better than last year and it's been fun!
Tonight we bribed him with ice cream. He's still not a very aggressive player so we told him if he scored a goal we'd have ice cream. And guess what? He scored his first goal--(which in my opinion is tough to do when you have 15 on 15 and they all clump together!) Woohoo! Ice cream for us all!!
Way to finish off the season!

Asher

Several days ago Asher was laying down on the floor at the top of the stairs. He asked me if he could roll down. I told him that was not a good idea because he wouldn't be able to stop and it would hurt. I guess he was still curious about it because today he found out for himself that I was right! Good thing our stairs have a landing half way down. I still felt bad for him :( I asked him if he wanted to try again and he said 'no'. Good to know I have a smart kid :)!! I couldn't help but laugh a little though because rolling down the stairs is so obviously not a good idea to me. Funny what kids think looks like fun!
Asher has never been able to hold up two fingers. Well, except by using his other hand. These days he goes around using his right hand to hold down two fingers on his left hand (usually he'll hold down his pointer and middle finger) and say "I two and a half!"
For awhile now one of my favorite things about Asher is his skill in karate moves! He'll karate chop the spouting water at the splash pad and even flies that come in the house--cracks me up!!
My dad recently made a comment to my mom about how Asher just smiles all the time. And it's true. Okay, okay, he certainly has his grouchy moments but seriously, this is one happy kid. They other day Asher made even my heart smile as he came downstairs after his nap with the biggest smile on his face. He came right up to me, looked me straight in the eyes, and just kept smiling. I couldn't help but cover him in kisses and squeeze him tight. I love this kid!!

Camping!

Oh how I love camping! I was so glad that we got to get in another camping trip and spend some time in the great outdoors. But maybe what I was most excited about was that Tyce slept 7 hours Thursday night! Wahooey!!
We went up AF canyon on Friday afternoon and shortly after Tami and fam arrived, my mom came up, and Charlie with his kids. We had a great time, got dirty, talked a lot, and enjoyed every minute!

These are the cool balls that Ry and Asher got from Xango's "Bring your kid to work" day. They were played with all weekend!

I always have to throw in pictures of the kids playing on the iphones. I don't know why it makes me laugh!

We had planned on hiking to Stuart Falls on Saturday. Somehow we ended up starting our hike right at lunch time when it was super hot outside. The hike was way longer than we had anticipated but we all made it! I was unprepared and forgot to bring my wrap or backpack for Tyce so Kevin and I took turns carrying him. Rylan's not a big hiker so he had several moments of whining and complaining and then he'd suddenly just break into a run and sprint up the trail! Asher was a trooper and did what he could. He got a shoulder ride from Kev for the last little bit, but really he did pretty good. I admit it was a long, sweaty hike, but the exercise was good and the waterfall was pretty!

I had some fruit gushers I was bribing the kids with. Asher's teeth were so colorful I wanted a picture--For some reason this picture of him just makes me laugh!

At the top:

(Not great pictures of the waterfall but the people in the pictures are pretty cute!)

On the way back down we were told of a short cut that's good with kids. We gladly took that route! It took us through a private street of a gated living area but nobody yelled at us :)
Asher fell and was so sad. He makes such a cute sad face...

But he looked so stinkin cute walking down, holding hands with his daddy, hat sideways...
After our hike we were all starving so we decided against the planned foil dinners and went with the quick (and mighty delicious) frito pies for an early dinner. Oh, it tasted so good! The adults rested and sat around while the kids somehow had loads more energy and continued running around, exploring and playing.

I saw Asher playing with Tami's dust pan in the river. I took it away (after taking a picture!) and looked around for the little broom, but didn't see it. Later on when Tami was looking for her broom we asked Asher where it was. "In the river". Oops! I really did look in the river but if he did have it down there it must have floated away. Sorry about the litter, and sorry about your broom Tami!

Sunday morning Kevin got busy right away taking down the tent and packing things away. I took my time, not wanting to leave the mountains. But we had to be home in time to make it back for him to teach his Elder's Quorum lesson. The boys and I skipped out on our meetings--shhhh, don't tell :)
I truly am so grateful to have the mountains so close. This world is an amazingly beautiful place and I hope I am always near my family and a wooded campsite!

Work With Daddy

Every year Xango has a "Bring your kids to work" day. This is the first year Kev has taken the boys. Rylan was so excited. He was asking every day if today was the day he got to go with daddy. They both got their own work badge with their picture on it and a bag to put their goods in.


I dropped them off at work so I could just pick them up afterward and we could go up the canyon for a fun weekend camping trip. While they were "working" I took Tyce up to Kacy's house and hung out with her for a bit, distracting her from things she should have been doing :)
So at work, they got to color, sing songs, play "Duck, Duck, Goose", and hang out with the RSL mascot. You know, the typical workday things. Seriously, I wonder if the boys really think that's what their daddy does at work!





They came home with these cool balls that they took up camping and had tons of fun with. I think their badges are still in Kevin's desk which he should bring home soon because Rylan loves playing with things like that. I think they had a good time!