Say What?

There is a  song we listen to in the car and the line goes"Oh, I wish I were a little English Sparrow..."

Isaac: "Grace, What is an english sparrow?"
Grace: " It is a little bird."
Isaac: " And he speak English?"

This is Isaac who asked me yesterday if Harry Potter was real.  He would like me to make him a magic wand.  Actually, I saw something on pinterest....

Super Fun Park = Visit Us

This is all Sam. 

A rare moment of the lion and the lamb.

I am so proud of Alex giving this a try.  I know it isn't his thing.  It is so fun to see cousins.

We have a different and fun park by our house.  Come over and we will play.  Even cousin Alex, too old to really enjoy it, had fun when I made him go with us.  I used to drive, drive, drive to the discovery park in PG, but this one, while not the same, is still really fun and alot closer for us.  I am serious for anyone who wants, I will make lunch and take you to the park.  All you have to do is drive over.  Although after the swimming post, you might be afraid to expose your kids to my naughty children :)

When the wife is away...

Last week the kids and I went to Jackson Hole.  Of course, Jake texts me the next day and says he bought something.  I am not surprised.  AND I actually know what it is before he tells me. It is some sort of little boat.  Something for the river.  Something that must be bought while I am away so he doesn't get the immediate eye roll.
It is a canoe.
Disclaimer: Some thought has been put into this.  KSL has been checked for weeks.  All sorts of boats have been looked at. 

It has already been used many times.  Jake and the kids love it.  I am sure I will like it too, when I go in it.  What is the best part is that we can walk it out the back gate, and into the water.  It can be paddled to the park just about a quarter mile away.  It reminds me a little of Alabama.  Would I liked to have known before hand about this purchase... maybe, but there have been much, much worse.

Con-grads!

Isaac graduated from Preschool! He is going into kindergarten in the fall!!!  He was very excited for his graduation day at Cabelas.  He sang very well and loud.  I think he will have a great time in kindergarten even if we are still working a little on the alphabet.  Isaac will be a great helper to everyone.  I know he is excited and I love to watch Isaac learn and grow. 

Itty Bitty Baseball

May was Itty Bitty Baseball for Isaac and Sam.  Isaac says baseball is his favorite sport.  They both loved hitting the ball and running the bases.  On the last day they get to play with the big parachute.  In January at Itty Bitty Basketball, Sam would not go in the parachute; then he made me go in with him.  This time I watched from above (per his instructions) and he acted like it was no big deal.  These boys are getting so so big.

First trip of the season... in the canyon

 Ants? No, Uncle (and cousins) on a log.

 Grace in her element.  The outdoors and the water.  Thanks for a warm April!

 Big Jake and little Jakey throwing rocks.

 Isaac loves smores, hold the chocolate.

 Josh and Heather took the kiddos on a little walk.  Thanks!

 Thomas would like to push this log in the river.  Keep trying buddy!

We had a lovely family barbecue up AF canyon at the end of April. It was such a busy month I almost forgot to post it.  We missed Kelby and the new baby and Tom and Ruth, but everyone else in the area was there!  I am looking forward to some more smores.

An Isaac Perspective

There was a time I would look through the pictures I had taken on my camera and find a group of odd, low to the ground, half faced pictures. This would mean Isaac found my camera. I loved to look at them to see a little of how Isaac views the world. Then I would say a prayer of thanks giving that the camera survived. It has been a while since I have found this little surprise on my camera.

                                     

He must have seen a squirrel because that is where it ends.

At the park

On Thursday I had the good fortune to of watching little Cason.  We had to run a few errands, but at last we made it to the wooden park.  My kids love this park.  As a special treat, I will drive them there even though it is not on the way to anywhere.  (Don't tell Jake.)  The weather was a little windy, but we played until the rain... and Aunt Heather came.

The Tulip Festival

Amid the beautiful fragrant flowers, secret gardens, tinkling streams and rushing water falls... BOYS WILL BE BOYS.

Isaac's favorite day!

Jake heard on the radio that the army base down the road was doing an artillery demonstration Saturday morning.  He drives Grace and Isaac down there at 8 am because you are suppose to be there at 8:30 and Jake is sure the line is going to be very long.  They were some of the first there and found out that the radio station had misbroadcast the information.  It was suppose to be for media and VIPs.  Since Jake was there early they got to sit with the vips and the other 300 people who showed up had to sit further away.  Jake was very proud of himself.  Jake and Isaac could have stayed there all day.  Grace on the other hand was ready to leave after the first earth shaking BOOM.

Say What?

I sadly missed the actual occurance, but it was too good to not write down.  On Easter we went went to church in Pocatello ID on our way back from Jessica's wedding.  Justin, Wendy, James, Allison and my little family were leaving the building to get back on the road when Sam had to go to the bathroom so I went back inside.  While I was away, poor Isaac got stumped.  James knows that Isaac doesn't retain information very well and wanted to make sure that he was remembering who he was before he left town again.  He says, "What's my name, Isaac?"  Isaac says, "Justin."  Then James points to my brother Justin and says, "What's his name?"  Isaac says, "Justin."  Then Isaac realizes that they both can't be named Justin so he looks at Wendy and whispers, "Help me...."  Poor Isaac!

The Bird Blind

What Grace loves... everyone knows about.  Grace's new obsession is birds.  She borrowed a bird book from the library which contained the idea of a bird blind.  One warmish Saturday, the kids decided to try it out.  Never mind the part where you are supose to wait three days before you go inside so the birds are used it you.  They took some chairs and an old sheet and set it up, by themselves.  Then they ripped up some dead grass and threw it on top of the sheet.  Grace had her notebook and pens to document each type of bird.  The boys were her helpers and were working on staying quiet.  (This was a wonderful Saturday activity.  Sit quietly under a sheet...outside?  sure you can have some snacks...)

Say What?

Isaac is a smart funny boy.  Sometimes when he is emptying the bird seed in the garage or heartbroken because I won't let him watch tv, I forget, just for a second, how sweet he is.  He can also be very quiet...until he is not.  One thing is always the same with Isaac, you NEVER know what he is thinking.
We were driving in the car one evening and Isaac said, "Do you know how to make your wish come true?"  Me:  "Do you wish on a star?"  Isaac: "You have to find a pig and lick he's (Isaac language) belly."  SIMPLE AS THAT! 

Field Trip to PetSmart

Isaac and Jackson attend the same preschool.  Ms Mikki is a great teacher.  This year she took the kids on a field trip to Petsmart.  Since Trisa was out of town, I was lucky to bring Jackson with us.  He was a little shy so he stayed to the back with his hood up.  (I showed him the animals after most of the kids moved on.  Isaac was completely the opposite.  He was in the front of the group asking questions and absorbing all of the information about his furry, scaly, and feathered friends.  He still tells me that a rat, if you set it on your shoulder, won't try and jump off.  (Unlike, hampsters who are not smart enough to hold on... or something like that.)  Sam was just happy to be there and be a pre-preschooler.  I thought back to the days that I worked at a petsmart...  it seems like a lifetime ago. At the end, they each picked out a toy for their respective dogs and then we went for ice cream.  It gave me an excuse to go to Culvers!  I hope they enjoyed the field trip because Ms Mikki said she won't be doing it again ...
 small children + small animals = chaos  

Isaac at the Jazz game

Okay so I can't figure out how to turn this the right way but I wanted to include it so I'm leaving it!

Jake got two free tickets to a Jazz game from his work.  He was going to take Isaac.  He came home too tired and the game didn't start till 7:30 which is practically his bed time anyway.  So I took Isaac to the Jazz game.  It was great because he had just finished Itty Bitty Ball and he was interested in what was actually happening.  Of course not until he had his dip-in-dots in hand.  He was really interested in the defense.  (I think that is because he likes doing it when he plays.  Shooting is still a little tricky.)  We didn't stay for the whole game because it looked like he was going to fall alseep and I didn't want to get stuck trying to carry him three blocks to the car.  He is getting so big!  And he tells me so Every. Day.  He love to stand up against someone and measure himself against them.  He is so eager to get bigger.... 

My Basketball Stars

January was busy with moving in and me avoiding unpacking boxes.  The local rec center provides us with Itty Bitty ball. Sam has been looking forward to this since last year when he wasn't quite old enough.  It isn't just the love of the sport though.  They give them two laffy taffy at the end of each practice.  Isaac is getting so big.  He was so good at defense that that his "coach" had to ask him to let the other kids shoot.  It was exciting to see Isaac starting to understand the game.  Sam loved to shoot the ball and was devistated if Isaac tried to "help" him.  I loved being able to jog around the track and know that the boys weren't missing me one bit!

Binkies...Nuks...Pacifiers

Call them what you will, but we have no more! I have been meaning to document this for Isaac because I am so proud of him. A couple of weeks ago, after a few nights of waking up to put his Bink back in his mouth, I finally said, "NO MORE!" I realize that I should have said it about a year ago, but you do what you gotta do. So my plan: Binky Fairy... it worked on Supernanny. I gathered the Binkies and after one night of no binkie we took the binkies to the the BIG toy store (toysRus) and Isaac got to pick (almost) any toy he wanted. First he wanted a Leapster, but Santa might bring one so he looked at everything. After searching the store, Isaac picked the Melissa and Doug (wooden) tool set and a little toy boat. Out of all the flashy noise makers, cars, guns, balls,trains, Isaac wanted a screwdriver and hammer. He plays with it all the time. So he gave his binkies (in the walmart bag) to the checkout girl who I slyly informed of my plan. Now we sleep the the night most of the time, and I am thinking of all the things that I can perhaps change with just a trip the toy store!

Partners in Crime

A few weeks ago I went to take the trash out and came back in to a mysteriously quiet house. Grace was at preschool, but it was still a little too quiet. This is what I found. There is lipstick all over Isaac's stomach. I had to get the camera and document the first of what will be many adventures these two will have together. I smiled and laughed and told them no, but Isaac didn't get the message. I found him a few days later cleaning the toliet with my mascara brush. I was not smiling and did not take a picture. I AM glad that Sam and Isaac have each other. They are the same distance in age as me and my sister. Even though space is tight and I find Isaac saying "NO, Sammy" often, I am sure they will wind up wondering what they would have done without the other like I often wonder about Allie.