My Pathetic Garden

This year, the garden is nothing short of pathetic. I'm wondering if I can even call it a garden! Between getting off to a bad start,not fertilizing the dirt, only watering once a week and having a baby, it has suffered greatly. If neglecting a garden were a crime, I would be in jail at the current time! This is a picture of the garden. (No, Cadence does not have a disease on her face. This is when she painted her face.)
It is the end of August and we are finally getting a few (and I mean a few) vegetables. Here is a picture of 2 eggplants and 1 pepper. How exciting!!! (This could be considered a "Find the veggie" game.)

Cadence likes to pick the cherry tomatoes. She doesn't always pick the ripe red ones. If she eats one that isn't ripe, she knows it by the taste and spits it out with a funny look on her face!

Usually, when I plant this many tomato plants, there are hundred of ripe tomatoes much earlier than now. I am going to pick the first ripe tomato tomorrow. I'm making BLT for dinner:)

Look closely! There is one crockneck squash growing! There is a zuchinni that has just started to grow.

The Next Picasso OR Tattoo Artist?

I introduced Cadence to paint today! She LOVED it! It was like magic. The paint, the water, the paper - what a combination! At first, she was fascinated by just painting on the paper.
Cadence accidentally got a little paint on her face. Then, I made a really silly choice. I painted whiskers and a nose on her face. Amazed that she looked like a cat, Cadence kept looking into the mirror and smiling!!! She thought that was totally cool!

So Cadence decided to paint her own face. She had so much fun and was very PROUD of her work. She wanted to show everyone and wanted me to take lots of pictures.
We went outside to play and she hoped that people would walk by so she could show them her artistic creation on her face. When we came back in, Cadence wanted to paint some more masterpieces. She chose a few different surfaces on which to paint - more paper, her fingers, hands, feet and legs. She even had to get down on the floor in order to paint more effectively! This is final result of her body art.

Time will tell in which direction she takes her talent. Will she choose to be a Picasso and paint on the usual surfaces or will she choose to be a tattoo artist? I am praying for the Picasso!!!

What's The Word On The Street?

Cadence's last babysitter, Camille, introduced her (and therefore, me) to a few fun, educational websites. Cadence's favorite website is www.sesameworkshop.org. They have little fun clips that Cadence likes to watch. I never really watched Sesame Street growing up, but I like what I see. Cadence learns a lot from this website. Her favorite part is the weekly podcast called "What's The Word on the Street?" There is a new vocabulary word explained through a video clip every week. The last three weeks the "Word on the Street" has been octagon, subtraction and pirouette. When asked what an octagon has, she replies "8 stunning angles and 8 glorious sides." Subtraction, she says, means to "take something away," and for pirouetee, she jumps in a circle. Cadence is SO SMART! She just keeps learning and learning. Another fun website she likes is fisherprice.com. To watch the podcasts, go to http://www.sesamestreet.org/podcasts/

Swimming Sensation

At the beginning of the summer, Cadence was very afraid of the water. At Snowbird, she stayed on the steps of the pool and clung VERY tightly when Grammy or her cousins would attempt to take her off the steps. Chris and I didn't swim at all this summer - until last week. Between East Canyon, two invitations to swim at the Logan Aquatic Center, and a swim party for Thomas Fredrickson all within 10 days, our family got many opportunities to swim lately.

All it took was for Chris or I to get into the pool with Cadence to watch her come alive and turn into a water bug. She LOVES to swim now. She got much braver every time we went swimming. She will now stand in water upto her neck by herself.

When water touches her face, she says, "That's not scary. That's funny." She even went down the big water slide (which was SO SLOW that Chris had to push his way down) with Dad. Cooper just puts his feet in the water. I get nervous about immersing his whole body in water when Cadence's teeth were chattering. She would get so cold that she could barely talk, but REFUSED to get out.

Cadence likes to paddle like a dog and kick like a fish. She also loved the hot tub which she called "hot pool." When waking up every morning last week, she would ask her usual first question, "Where's Daddy?" and then would ask if she could get her swimsuit on and go swimming. She loves her swimsuits (and would go in the potty all the time if I let her wear her swimsuit all the time. She wont pee in her swimsuit!)


The funny thing is that she still wont get in little pool at home. She will get it out and fill it with water, but doesn't want to play in it! It looks like next year we will have to get the big pool that Chris' brother gave us two years ago!!!

Freebies!

I don't know what it is about our family, but we always seem to be getting free stuff. People - strangers, acquaintances, friends and family - just give us random things. I have many theories why this may be. Perhaps, it is the "law of attraction" as made famous by the book The Secret, or just because people like us, or due to our "beautiful" children, or to "pay" us back for some favor or service we have done to them, or just because they are nice people or they know we have a barn full of storage and will find a good home for the stuff if we don't need/want it or people feel sorry for us or just for some other random reason. It is probably because of one of these reasons!

The other day, the kids and I were walking into Smith's. A fireman passed us to go to his truck. He came back and gave Cadence a stuffed animal and told her that firemen give stuffed animals to cute little girls like her. Wow! The next day, I needed to print a paper off at my former school to take to another teacher about a former student. While we were there, the school secretary gave Cadence a brand new Kermit the Frog stuffed animal. When we got home, there were a couple of people from down the street bringing us a bunkbed with mattresses. We don't really know them. The mom was riding her bike down the street and stopped and asked us if we wanted a bunk bed before she took them to the thrift store. We said we would love some bunkbeds.

It is amazing to me how much free "stuff" comes to us. It has saved us money and I am very grateful for everyone's kindness. I am cheap and this just feeds my cheapness! Thanks to everyone for all you have given to us!

A picture of Cadence with her free gifts.

My Favorites?

So my friend Lilly tagged me with the following post and in filling it out, I realize how very boring I am. I also re-realize that I am one of the most indecisive people alive. As I attempted to identify "my favorite...," I noticed that I don't have anything that is a favorite. I think it drives Chris crazy. I tend to always think the answer to most things is "It depends." I don't really watch TV or movies or listen to the radio much. I don't do much of anything, but think about making my kids and husband happy. So the following is a list of favorites for the brief moment that I wrote them down.

My favorite color: Blue
My favorite movie: The Wiggles (that what we seem to watch most these days)
My favorite TV show: The Olympics and the news (We just got TV last week!)
My favorite song: Church primary songs
My favorite restaurant: Korean BBQ
My favorite vacation spot: Snowbird
Favorite indulgence: Eating anything with sugar or eating out
My favorite snack: popsicles
My favorite season: Summer
My favorite dessert: Anything cold - especially ice cream

Anyone who wants to do this tag, can.

It's Been SIX Weeks!

I can't believe that Cooper is SIX weeks old. Time is passing so quickly! My goal (although I knew it wouldn't happen) was to loose one month of pregnancy for every postpartum week. When I came home from the hospital looking six months pregnant, I thought that I should be back to my normal size after six weeks. Well, after getting in a swimsuit this last week, it DEFINITELY didn't happen. I think this is going to take longer to loose the excess weight than last pregnancy.

Look at how big and handsome Cooper is! He is already fitting into 3-6 month size clothes and his size 1 diapers seem to be getting smaller and smaller!

Cereal Necklaces and Popsicles

We have a great little neighborhood - except for the people who speed down the street in front of our house. Cadence hears some of the kids down the street often and wants to play with them. We invited one family of kids over to "swim" in Cadence's pool. My hope is that they would get Cadence to actually sit in the pool. She just likes to fill it with a few inches of water, walk through it occasionally, put toys in the water and dump the water. She LOVES wearing one of her 5 swimsuits right now. Unfortunately, the Coltrin's didn't have the magic I was hoping for. Instead of "swimming," they made cereal necklaces from a bag of Tootie Frooties I bought for a dollar:)
They also ate our summer staple treat - a popsicle. I bought 8 bags of popsicles the other day for only $.88 each. What a deal!

Thanks Charles, Kyah, Chelsea and Crystal for coming to play!

Last Summer Outing

How sad it is to think that the summer is coming to an end. For me, it seems a little longer since I am not going back to school/my job. However, I know the days are getting shorter, the temperature a few degrees cooler and the older kids are school shopping.

My mom had to use her time share at East Canyon or lose it. So our family went up along with Grammy, Sandy, McKinley, Maddie, Tammie, Sydney, Cole and Jeff for our last summer outing.
Cadence made huge improvements in her reaction to water and swimming. This is the first time this summer that Chris and I have got in the pool with her. The good news is I fit in my swimsuit from last summer. The bad news is that it wasn't pretty. I still have a lot of weight to lose because swimsuits stretch A LOT!!!

Cadence went in the "big pool" willingly and had a lot of fun. We put the floatation device we bought for her birthday to good use. We named it the "motorboat." Cadence was the motor by kicking in the water.
She acted so bravely and acted totally different with us than she has with the other family members who have taken her swimming. Cadence was happy when we let go of her and the boat. She wasn't clingy even when we were carrying her around and jumping and swimming in the big pool without a floatation device.

Cooper even got wet. I stuck his feet in the water! He likes being the sun as long as the sun isn't in his eyes.
Cadence has so much fun with her cousins and they are so cute with her and Cooper. Besides swimming, they had fun playing on the playground and swings.

They also built a small dam in the river.

The adults enjoyed a couple games of the family favorite - SETTLERS- and a new game, speed scrabble. We all stuffed ourselved silly with treats, Cafe Rio wannabe salad burritos and more junk food.

With gas prices around $4.00 a gallon, Mom's staycation timeshares (Snowbird, Park City and East Canyon) are so nice. Thanks Mom (and Dad) for having timeshares that the family can enjoy together. Hanging out with the family is so "COOL."

Time for TV!

After about 13 years of NOT getting TV channels, we finally broke down and got TV. (OK, one year of college, my roommates and I had TV, but that was it!) I wanted to be able to watch the Olympics and Chris heard me mention this. He jumped on the idea because he knows I am not a fan of watching tons of TV and called Comcast. I have watched more TV in the last week than I have in years. I better be careful that I not get addicted to watching anything, but the Olympics! (By the way, I am loving the sports! Go USA!)

Row, Row, Row Your Raft

Chris has wanted to float the canal behind the houses across the street from ours since the beginning of summer with Cadence, but just hasn't had the time. Something seems to come up the times he has planned. I told him today to come home after work and take her. She has been wearing her swimsuit often the last couple of days. We borrowed a raft from our neighbors, the Gardners, and they launched down the river!
It is a calm little river. Usually, people tube it, but it is cold and I know that Cadence would have screamed and refused to get in the water after she touched it if they took tubes. The raft was perfect!

Unfortunately, Cadence got a bonk on her head while floating! There is a part where the canal splits into two canals and you have to get out and go around a headgate and get back in. Somehow, as Chris and Cadence were getting back in, a swing that swings across the river hit her in the head. She received her second goose egg this summer. It was a big bonk and is now a nice little bruise. I asked her if she had fun and she didn't really love it. I think it was a result of the bonk since that was fresh on her mind.

Freezing Buns in the Summer

Chris is the Young Men's President in our ward. There are only 3 young men, but they still have fun activities. Yesterday for the combined YM/YW activity, they chose to go ice blocking at the park up on Cliffside. Ice blocking is where you get a block of ice, put a towel on top of it and slide down a steep, grassy hill. It is summertime sledding, but a little safer.

Chris was in the first group to slide down the hill.

After Cadence watched everyone take their turn, she thought it looked like fun and wanted to go down too. She sat on Dad's lap.
They rode safely together until the bottom when the ice slipped from beneath Chris. He just kept on going down the wet hill and wet his pants. (Not peed his pants!!!)

Then I decided to take a run down the hill.

Being the big girl that Cadence is, she wanted to go "all by myself." Being the good mother that I am, I held her on an ice block and ran down the long, steep hill bending over - FOUR times. Gratefully, I wasn't pregnant. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it down without rolling head over heels. The young women displayed screams of excitement and fun. As Cadence slid down the hill, she thought she should copy them. It was a funny and silly scream that was very forced!

Cadence loved it! She thinks she is the queen of all the world (which basically she is.)
SIDE NOTE #1 - They ate lunch (sloppy joes) before ice blocking. Cadence devoured the meat. She has eaten the leftovers for every meal since the activity - breakfast, lunch and dinner - and she wants it cold with no bun.
SIDE NOTE #2- The infamous Chuck E. Cheese sticker finally came off while she was sliding. We were such proud parents that it was finally off!!! Now Cadence won't let us scrub her arm to get the glue off:(
Cooper slept through the whole activity!!!

One Month Old ALREADY!

Cooper is one month old already! It has flown by so quickly. I can't believe it. He is no longer a newborn and is growing so big! These are two pictures of him from August 8th. The three most notable things about our delightful mini-Cooper at this point in his life are 1. He LOVES to EAT!!! 2. He LOVES to suck. Therefore, he is good friends with his binkie. 3. He loves his MOM! He also is getting used to his sister's jabs and touches.

The Fantastic Fair...and Rodeo!

Last week was the Cache County Fair. We took the kids to see the animals and excitement.
The money stays in the car so we don't spend it. Of course, Cooper slept right through it.
However, Cadence was awake and loving (most of) it. She wanted to see the animals, but NOT touch them.
We did get her to feed some baby goats and pet a rabbit.

The rodeo was starting while we were there and we took her to see all the horses and rodeo queens as they were leaving the arena(?). Cadence just wanted to keep watching and watching and watching. The decision was made that we could come back to "rodeo" tomorrow because 1. it was going to rain 2.we had no money 3.we didn't plan on watching the rodeo 4. the rodeo had already started.


Cadence loved the rodeo, music, horses and cows. She danced every time she heard music!!! Somehow she has learned to move her hips and "shake her booty" too well. I will not allow her to dance like that when she is twelve or older:) She will attract too many mischievious boys! I must admit that it is so cute right now! Cooper actually stayed awake for part of the night! When Cadence tells anybody about the rodeo, she bounces her head and arms to describe the horses and explains that the cows 'fall over.' We will definitely have to go again next year.
Towards the end of the rodeo, Cadence was getting a bit restless - as were we. So we walked over to the 'funnel cake' booth and talked to Bret, one of Chris' mission buddies whose family runs it - with plans to return for the bull riding. Bret gave us two funnel cakes! YUM! It was worth missing the bull riding for those fat-free desserts!

We love the county fair!!!

The Infamous Chuck E. Cheese Sticker

Two weeks ago, Cooper, Cadence and I went to Chuck E. Cheese while Chris was in Alaska. They gave me a sticker to put on Cooper that matched the stamp on my hand so I could leave with him. As we left, Cadence wanted the sticker! No big deal. A sticker is like a band-aid. She loves to wear them. So we put it on her arm. I thought it would come off in a day or two - especially since we were going swimming. I was WRONG!!! Here it is over two weeks later - and two trips swimming, and many baths later - and part of it is still attached. Cadence won't let us touch it, let alone try to remove it. She LOVES it!!! In all the pictures of the last two weeks, Cadence has a beautiful Chuck E. Cheese sticker on her arm. The glue on some parts have discolored her skin -hopefully not for good. I'm just praying that the skin won't start growing around the sticker and that it won't become a permanent part of her body!!!
Cadence assisted me in making a whipped cream/jello salad for dinner. She is licking the lid. NOTICE THE STICKER!

Cadence feeding the baby goats at the fair. NOTICE THE STICKER!

Cadence showing off her muscles. NOTICE THE STICKER (and how beautiful in blue she is)!


Cooper and Cadence in orange! NOTICE THE STICKER!

Ok, so you get the idea! This sticker is a part of her. Hopefully, it will come off soon and the glue with fade away! (This was a great post of random cute pictures!)

Crazy 8 Wedding!

My former roommate, Megan Crossett, was going to get married to BJ Green on 8-8-08 at 8am. Unfortunately, her dad was stuck in some airport and wouldn't be able to get to Logan by 8 am so they postponed it until 7pm that evening. Cadence, Cooper and I attended her wedding lunch at Golden Corral. Of course, our favorite part was the desert - ice cream and gummy bears!!! I'm thrilled that Megan got married!

Doesn't Cadence look incredible in blue? As usual, Cooper slept through the lunch. I was grateful that I had both hands to use!