Saturday, June 28, 2014

Last Trip to the Jemez Mountains

I can't say that going up to the Jemez has been something that we have done frequently (usually once or twice a year), but I can say that it is something that my boys have loved.  It is only an hour away from our house to our favorite spots (Battleship Rock and La Cueva).  We usually hit it up in the summer with friends.  I think that this past week will probably be our last time.  It was so much fun.  The boys played and played and played in the stream -----climbing up and down rocks and fishing for minnows and tadpoles.  We ladies just sat in the shade and talked.  It was such a nice day.

Khayden, Calvin, and Wyatt on a big rock in the stream.  Calvin and Khayden have been best friends since first grade.  He is a sweet, Navajo boy.  I know Calvin will miss him so much when we leave.  
 Ben, Wyatt, Khayden, Calvin

Smiley Cyrus
 Wyatt's frown looks especially pronounced because of all of the dirt under his mouth.  I think at this point in the day he was feeling a little left out.  He did rally a few minutes later and join in the fun. 
 Dirt Bros

Cyrus was FILTHY by the end.  He told me after we left that it was a dirty place.  


 Steph and I were sitting in chairs with our backs to the picnic table.  We had snacks on the table for the kids to eat as they got hungry.  I heard some crunching and chewing and assumed that it was one of our kiddos, but when I turned around I saw that it was a squirrel.  It tickled me.  He wasn't afraid either.  He hung around, and if we shooed him away, he came right back.  



Thursday, June 26, 2014

Harry Potter Party

I consider introducing and reading Harry Potter to my kids one of my greatest accomplishments.  It has been so enjoyable to read them the entire series this past year and watch them fall in love with it as much as I did.  I think we all felt a little depressed when it was over.  It is just such a great series.  After we read each volume, we watched the movies.  And we decided it was only fitting to have a party after we read the last book.  

I made each of the boys their own wand and scarf.  Then we played a few games with our wands (Wingardium Leviso).  We also made mugs by drawing some of our favorite pictures and quotes on them with sharpies.  We will enjoy using them when it is hot chocolate season.  We also tried some of Bertie's Every Flavor beans and were disgusted with the vomit and booger flavors.  It was such a fun party.

The Boys are practicing levitating their balloons with their wands.  

 Glasses, Scarves, and Wands.  We are ready to go to Hogwarts!




Since finishing the series, we have been trying to fill the void with other books --- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Fablehaven, Tom Sawyer ......all of them are okay, but Harry Potter is still our favorite.  The boys have especially been into Garfield Comics bound in book form from the library.  

Friday, June 20, 2014

Isotopes Game

To celebrate the end of their baseball season, Calvin and Wyatt's coach was able to get tickets for all of the families to see the Isotopes play.  Noah and I were sure that the boys were going to be bored, and that we would probably leave early.  We were surprised by how entertained they were, and how much fun we all had.  We found ourselves saying that we should have been coming to these games all along.  After the game they had a fun fireworks display (which we all loved), and then they let all of the kids run the bases.  Everyone had a great time.


Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Death by Fart

A few weeks ago, Cyrus was following Noah through the house.  Noah farted, and it was right at Cyrus' nose level.  I guess it was a particularly stinky one because Cyrus said, "Ugh!  Dad, you almost choked me and died me!"

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Winter Life

One night Noah asked me if I wanted to play Monopoly with him.  He had set up the camera on a tripod to take pictures of us, since there are so few pictures of us running around.  I'm pretty sure that I won, but it was a hard-fought battle.










The boys had a few snow days this winter.  Unfortunately, there was hardly enough snow to play in.  I was feeling so sick, so they mostly ran around the house and played Wii.  



Calvin trying to dodge getting his picture taken. 

Wyatt's teacher made him this yellow scarf for Christmas, and he loved it and wore it for about 2 weeks.  Then he forgot about it.  
I love this picture of Noah.  It captures his face everyday before he goes to work.  He always looks like he is so sad to be going----like he is waiting for his turn on the gallows.  
These last few pictures are to remind me that sometimes life is very difficult and that is okay.  Being pregnant is hard for me because I feel like I don't take very good care of my family.  But, we survived!  And I don't think that anyone was scarred permanently because of it.  





Catch-Up

Time has been flying by!  We found out that we were pregnant in January, and I have felt terrible.  I spent the first few months barfing and laying in bed while the boys watched a ton of tv and made their own meals.  It was a miserable time!  During Spring Break, I took them to hike the Petroglyphs.  The lady in the back of the picture stopped me and said, "A wish for a daughter is a wish for many sons. " And she was right, as we found out soon after that this baby is going to be a boy!! Four of a kind! Well, we certainly know what to do with boys, and they are a lot of fun.  
 Calvin and Wyatt also played baseball this spring.  They were on the same team (the A's).  Calvin thought he was going to hate until the games started, and he found out he was a pretty good hitter and fielder.  Then he started to really enjoy it.  Wyatt started off loving it, but soon decided it was a little too slow for his tastes.  He did finish out the season, but he is saying right now that he thinks he would like to try basketball.  I enjoyed watching every single game.  It was so fun to watch them bat and get a hit!  

At one point, when Wyatt was playing catcher, he farted.  The batter turned around to look at him because it was kind of loud, and Wyatt said, "it wasn't me." 


 Wyatt also decided for a few days that he wanted to be a professional wrestler.  He trained for an afternoon at the park ----- doing many sit-ups, one-armed push-ups, and runs around the perimeter.  

 Noah and I took a last minute trip to Las Vegas with MB2.  We flew my Mom out to watch the boys while we had a good time.  Of course, we hit quite a few buffets.  We also saw Britney Spears and La Reve.  It was relaxing and fun!  I passed out on the flight home, and it was a little bit embarrassing.  Noah took great care of me.  

 Wyatt and his first-grade teacher, Ms. Kern.  He had a great year.  He made great grades and is moving on to second grade when we move to Tennessee this summer.  
 Calvin and his third grade teacher, Ms. O'Connor.  Calvin has been a consistently great student.  He always listens to his teacher, makes good grades and is well-behaved.  He was lucky enough to have his two best friends, Khayden Preston and Dylan Rudd, in his class.  
 And finally, Cyrus was working on his ninja moves when we visited Dad at his office.  


A few funny comments made recently:

Cyrus asked me to make him a bowl of cereal.  When I served it to him, I ate one of the pieces.  It made him mad, and he started to cry and say unkind things.  I scolded him and told him to stop.  He was quiet for a minute, and then he said, "Mom, I'm sorry, but guess what.  Why'd you do that?!"  It gave Noah and I a good chuckle.

Cyrus stretched a piece of plastic across our bedroom to make a booby trap that someone would trip over.  He was very proud of himself, and he said to me, "Mom, look!  I made the boobiest trap."