Not a good church toy

Today at church it was just me, Grant & Collin. Sacrament Meeting went pretty well for the first while but then Collin started to get a little antsy and grumpy. I had offered him everything I had in the church bag to play with and some animal crackers but he just grumpily threw them on the floor and started to cry. I didn't want to take him out because I would've had to take Grant with me too. Feeling desperate I found the van keys and handed them over. Winner!! He loved playing with them. He was pushing buttons like a mad man and it kept him quiet and entertained for a good 10 minutes. We used to let Scotty play with our Accord key all the time in church and nothing ever happened with the car. Well, apparently the Odyssey remote is stronger or something, because when I came out of church all of the windows were rolled down. Being slightly frazzled after going solo, plus a kind of crazy day in the nursery, and not wanting to root around in my stuffed bag for the keys, I reached through the open window and unlocked the door which then started the horn blaring and the lights flashing! Collin and Grant FREAKED and started screaming, but I had to set Collin down to try to get it to stop. Of course, people rushed over to pick up my screaming babies while I fumbled around trying to get the dang thing to stop. I was so embarrassed!! Luckily most people had left church already and the ward that was in the building had just finished Sacrament Meeting. Collin screamed for a good while even after the honking stopped. I was thoroughly embarrassed and have certainly learned my lesson!

Mother of the Year

Yesterday we were driving and when I said we had to get home Scotty said "We don't want to be late for book club!" I had no idea how he would have known about a book club! Then this morning we were watching Curious George and the man with the yellow hat said that he didn't want to be late for his book club. Scotty said "That's where I learned about book club. I learn all my new words from TV." And the award goes to....me!! (But the TV stayed on- I had to shower, after all!!!)

Tuesday night dates

Miles and I decided awhile ago that we wanted to spend one on one time with each of our kids. We decided to start having regular date nights. We talked about a lot of different ways to do it and finally decided on a system that would work for us. Tuesday night is date night and we rotate turns: Daddy & Scotty, Mommy & Grant, Daddy & Collin, Mommy & Scotty, and so forth. We only do one hour to make sure we have time to have family dinner and keep our bedtime. We don't spend money except for an occasional small treat. We let Scotty choose what he wants to do. For Grant & Collin we try to pick something that they would enjoy. We do simple things- even just taking the date kid downstairs to play while everyone else stays upstairs. The boys LOVE date night. It didn't take long for even Grant to pick up on what it means and he gets really excited when we tell him that it's his date night. Miles & I really love it too. It's really nice to spend one on one time with each of them without any distractions. We get to focus just on them and do what is fun for them. We hope that as we continue this tradition that our boys will always enjoy being with us and will always feel comfortable talking with us.

Here are a few pictures from some of our recent date nights.

Scotty and I went to the temple grounds to see the "beautiful" flowers. Scotty really appreciates the beauty of nature and I loved sharing this with him.

No boy can stay away from the water!

We had a great time.

Grant & I went to the library. We played for a long time with this little kitchen set and play food.

He got to pick a book.

Then when we got home we played outside in the rain for a little while. He thought it was hilarious to put his head under the dripping water! Goofy boy!

Collin & I played on the computer. He loves Alpha Baby and doesn't get to do it very often so he was in heaven!

He loves to bang the keyboard and push the buttons on the mouse.

It was fun to just let him bang as long as he wanted.

Photo website

Ok- for the 2, maybe 3, of you that care- I have once again updated our photo website! It has been so long, and there are now lots of pictures on there. But, if I say so myself, they are adorable pictures!! Click here to be bombarded by cuteness!

10 Years!!!

10 years ago today Miles and I were married. Time is funny- it seems like only yesterday, but then it feels like we've been together for a long time! We have had the best 10 years together. I knew from the moment that I started getting the stink eye from the girls in the singles ward when I sat by Miles- he was a keeper! I couldn't ask for a better hubby, friend or co-parent. We still have a lot of fun together and can make each other laugh. Miles makes being married easy, and he even makes dealing with me seem easy too! We've learned a lot the past 10 years and had a lot of fun times.

Honeymoon, 2000- we decided early on what was important.

We keep each other in check.

We can look to the future and see where we want to be.

We've grown together.

We are party animals together!

We know each other inside and out- well, I guess Miles knows my insides better!

We help each other navigate difficult situations.

We work together to guide tiny ones on their journey.

We've learned to laugh at ourselves.

We've built an awesome life together!

I love you Miles! Thanks for 10 wonderful years. And bring on the next 10!

Muffin Tin Monday

Muffin Tim Mom is doing a spring mini-series for MTM themes for the next couple of weeks. This week's theme is birds and nests. I had a hard time thinking of anything to do for this- except I remembered there was a recipe for Choco-Nests in the back of one of our Curious George books (strange, right?) that would work well for this theme. But since I don't do MTM until Tuesday, I get to peruse all the other posts and get ideas from them! The boys had a lot of fun getting sticky making the nests and they also had a lot of fun eating the lunch. Scotty discovered that he loves hard boiled egg whites, but not the yolks. Miles has an aversion to hard boiled eggs so we very rarely have them. And the nests were really good- thanks Curious George!

PB&J duck/bird/weird thing shaped sandwich, our nests with a hatching chick in one and marshmallow and M&M eggs in the other, broccoli trees, Pop Rock bird seed and pudding bird poop.

I got this cute idea from here. I used tiny sprinkles for the eyes and cheese for the beak.

Grant was excited about the tree and was even saying tree!

Scotty decided to put bird poop on the tree!

Then he tasted the pudding and said "Eew, this poop is disgusting!"

To see more fun MTM posts, stop by Muffin Tin Mom.

Underfoot

Here's the reason that I don't cook:

Ok- it's not the reason, but it is very annoying! Whenever I'm in the kitchen Collin comes over and wedges himself in between me and the counter. And he's crying while he does it.

And then when I move or move him out of the way, he grabs onto my leg and tries to climb up, but instead pulls my pants down! The little stinker! Someday he won't be doing this and I'll miss him at my feet. But I still won't cook much.