A Little Snow Hike

This Saturday we did something the reminded me of our childless days in Oregon. We got up in the morning and decided to go enjoy nature, so we loaded up some stuff and headed to the mountains. When we got there we just stopped at a random place we had thought of on the way and then realized we had forgotten a lot of things, but got out of the car and went exploring anyway. When we lived in Oregon this is about how our life went every Saturday. It was nice. Now though, these times are few and far between, and oh yeah, there are two people with short legs who need snacks and nap times and all of that, who end up being dragged along. Good thing they are pretty adaptable little guys and more than willing to go along with our need for outdoor activities.
We drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Mill B South trail head and did a very short hike in the snow, that took us about an hour. We had ended up forgetting Gavin's snow boots and Henry's mittens, but they didn't seem to notice as much as I did. There was tons of snow and the trail was quite packed down, so Henry walked most of the way.
It turned out to be a great time to try out some of the features of the new camera as well, and a really good break from everything that keeps us from sporadic hiking trips most Saturdays.

One of my favorite things about this winter is short legs in tall snow boots. It really just cracks me up for some reason. And lately when we go outside the boys like to choose their own hats and winter accessories, which meant this time Henry was wearing on of Caleb's and Gavin was wearing Henry's. Henry is actually wearing the lining of Caleb's gloves since we forgot to bring his. It is just too cute.

Even without his boots, Gavin was not interested in staying on the trail and out of the snow. By the end his Velcro shoes wouldn't stay closed since snow was packed almost all the way up to his knees. He was still smiling and throwing snowballs at us though.

What great looking guys.

Henry was intent on giving Caleb his best glare while he tried to take our photo. He was pretty ready for a nap by this time.

A prized snowball.

A little creativity

So Monday I went to Roberts (Craft Store) looking for a gift and checking out their home decor clearance, when I happened to spy some large alphabet letters with a display. I have been thinking of doing something with the boys names, since I always see cute things on Tiana's blog, but had never really gotten on board with monograms. Well- I saw these letters and got thinking of a cute thing that my sister-in-law Stacy did at her last family reunion, and went on a little splurge to buy some stuff and try to make something nice out of it. I was anxious to try my skills, so I started working on it yesterday before work and by this afternoon... voila! they are both finished and hanging on the walls.
Check it out-

Henry did not want to stand next to his name, so he made this half smile for me.

Not too bad for a days work. Gavin is pretty excited to be able to wake up every morning and spell his and Henry's name. It's all about the little things, right?

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a good Valentine's Day. First, we woke up to large amounts of snow falling to wish up a Happy Valentine's Day. While I went running in the snow the boys and Caleb made waffles and a super awesome Valentine's card for me. Since the Valentines for the boys consisted of candy, we waited until midday to give them their treats.

These are some pretty cool dudes sporting their pink hearts full of chocolate.

Henry loves to show his food.

Caleb got me a new camera for Valentine's Day. It is pretty exciting how many great features it has, and I am sure that means less limitations, right? Anyway, we had fun trying out all of the new settings, like this self-portrait mode.

Lucky for us, the roads weren't too snowy by midday and we were able to head down to Nathan and Stacy's for traditional valentine's food. Red soda and heart-shaped pizza. Stacy was our pizza artist this year, and it was great.

All the kids getting ready for their delicious dinner.Henry enjoyed eating, but also sitting at the little red table with all of the older kids.I tried to make a new dessert, but due to lack of inspiration, I went with a red cake and some whipped cream/cream cheese frosting. Luckily, I can make food that tastes pretty good, since I tend to be lacking in presentation. I was going for a deep red, but ended up with a fairly bright fuchsia. Oh well- better luck next year, I guess.With help from the boys I was even able to convince Caleb to dress in his festive red. Holding his pink soda he is almost like the epitome of Valentine spirit.

Sarchasm

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
Some of our friends, sent us this word of the day because they said it reminded them of Caleb and the comments he makes in church meetings that seem to be lost on most of the crowd. I just can't think of it without laughing, since more and more often I find that I see people wondering if he is really serious about something he said to them. Most of the time, he isn't and it just cracks me up. Though I did tell him that it was nice to know that at least a few people get him.

Parker and Joshie

Some of the boys' best friends, are Parker and Josh. And when I say best friends, I mean that they love to play together and that they love to fight with each other. The last few times that all of the boys have been at my house, I have noticed this- Josh and Henry want to be next to each other all the time and playing with all of the same things, which ends up meaning that they are sitting on top of each other, pushing and hitting. It is quite the sight, but when I try to get them to play with separate things they both look at me like I am crazy.

Sometimes though, they really just seem to click and have so much fun together. This is what I found the other day when they were alone in the bedroom with Gavin's batman toy. I could hear them laughing hysterically, and came in to find them peeking at each other through the portal holes and just plain cracking up. It was so funny. (These two are about 6 months apart, but one day at the end of nursery one of the teachers tried to send Josh home with me because she thought he was Henry. Kind of funny.)

Parker and Gavin are more like 18 months apart, but fairly close to the same size. Parker has a big fan club amid all of the preschool kids because he tells the best jokes and is just the all around leader of the pack. Gavin loves being in this pack, but as the only other boy he tends to try to copy Parker as much as he laughs at him. Sometimes I wish he would wait until he was also 5 to start with all the underwear and bathroom jokes, but the other day, Gavin came up to Henry and put his around his shoulders and said in his nicest voice, "Are you ok, Henry? Do you want to play with us?" It was such a happy moment for me, and totally recognizable as something that Parker does with his little brother and with other little kids. I love it.

While these two do argue and tease each other, they are really starting to work out how to have fun together. I hope that once Gavin passes the 4 year old tattling phase, they will continue to work and have a lot of fun together. It is really fun to watch.

I had to take a couple of pictures of them working together so determinedly to make a new house for Batman and Robin. It was pretty cute, and I was actually quite impressed with the results.

Some days when we don't play together, Henry wanders around the house mumbling "Karker. Yoshie. Play. Karker. Yoshie. Play."

The Petersons Come to Visit

So, I know I am little slow to blog about this, but my computer has been giving me some serious issues...

Anyway, Last weekend, our now east coast friends, Michelle and Lauritz came to visit us for a few days. Actually they were coming to Utah for some of Michelle's family events, but we are always super excited when we get to spend time with them. They always worry that Gavin will forget them, but we are now quite sure that will never happen. Even our shy Henry seemed to remember the 4 days that we left him at their house to go to NY, and he warmed right up.

Just a few fun shots- Gavin made Lauritz watch "They Might Be Giants- ABCs" and added his commentary through most of it... in case Lauritz wasn't familiar with the vocabulary. Henry and Lauritz were keeping the beat on their knees at this point.

And, of course, there was some storytime. Lauritz is great at making up music to go with Gavin's books, and seems to draw to boys in for any kind of reading. They always run to the bookshelves to command all of his attention.

Sadly, I didn't get the camera out as much as I should have, so I don't have any pictures of Michelle from this trip. Even when Lauritz had to go home to get back to work, she still came to visit us. And cam to help me and the boys get through the middle of our week, which is always rough with Caleb gone in the evenings. It was super fun to get to hang out and try to talk and relax even with Gav and Henry around. Thanks again Michi!

Ok- so this is from awhile ago, but I had to post it anyway. We miss you guys already.

Butter Sculptures

This is what I found Henry doing the other morning while I was washing Gavin's hair. He was pretty excited that I had found him and proceeded to show me just how much fun he was having with the butter he had gotten open and was sculpting on the counter. Needless to say he had quite soft hands for a couple of days. 

He had stripped off his footed pajamas to make it easier for him to climb up the slide. He's a quick thinker. Though whenever he runs into a problem lately, you can hear him from all over the house saying loudly- "OOOhhh No!" It's about the funniest thing I have ever heard.

Just trying to stay warm

I promise that my house isn't really that cold. I like to conserve energy and all, but I am not freezing my kids in the process... though Gavin might have you believe differently.

He seems to have acquired a sixth sense for being able to hear the heater kick on no matter where he is in the house or what he is doing. And then this is how you will find him... perched over a heater vent where ever he can find one.

All of these were taken in about a 12 hour time period. 3 different rooms- 3 different vents cranking out heat.

Brushing his teeth on the bathroom floor.

Pretending to be a dog in his bedroom.

Eating breakfast in the living room... this one is his favorite spot. He holes up next to the couch and watches tv waiting for me to turn up the heat.

No vent in this one, but I just really love these tiny old man pajamas. They are so cute, just like Gav.

Friday Night at Home

I know this shouldn't seem like a super exciting occasion, but for us, it seems to be. It has been a really long time since we were all home together on a Friday night. If I'm not working, then we are usually having a rotating date night, which I of course wouldn't ever give up. But this week, we had neither, and enjoyed some fun family time. Most of which consisted of Gavin making up things for all of us to play together. Their favorite game was calling something like "the race to jump on Dad," and there is nothing like a game that explains itself completely in the title.

Henry also spent some time practicing his snowboarding skills with the game that Gavin got for Christmas. He has some pretty impressive balance.

There is always plenty of climbing around and laughing. Not sure what we would do without these two guys to keep us entertained.

The Slide Inside

Well, we are officially tired of winter around here, and even though it has been warmer, it is still too cold to spend much time outside. In an attempt to keep the boys more entertained I brought the slide into the living room last week. It was all orderly and fun for a few days, and then Friday hit and they decided to step it up a notch.

We started the morning with create-your-own-climbing-harness. This involved my canvas belts over their pajamas which they then tried to use to help each other climb the slide... luckily this stopped after they realized that the belts would get tighter to harder they pulled on them.

The next super fun thing they came up with involved one of their favorite pass times- jumping off things. Gavin strategically placed the bean bag chair so that he could throw himself off the top of the slide onto it with a nice thud.

While this was not my favorite thing, I was glad that Henry seemed happy just to watch and laugh, but that didn't last long. At least he wasn't in his most daring mood and decided to jump from only the second step.

"Chocit! Chocit!"

That's what Henry was saying as he greatly enjoyed his bowl of ice cream last night.

"Who you callin' messy?"

Good thing his Mom is a stain-removing genius.

Jesus wants Me for a Sunbeam

Well, today was a big day for us. My little Gavin has now permanently left the nursery at church and moved on to older and more mature things... Sunbeams. This is the first class in Primary (the Sunday school for little kids) and the class that you start in the year that you are turning 4. What a big day it was. Gavin has been looking forward to this for months, and longing to be in Primary with his friend Lexi, who turned 4 last year. It was just yesterday that we told him that his new class would be called Sunbeams, and he was super excited to be able to sing the Sunbeam song, "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam." This song is a kid favorite because at some point long ago someone decided that it would be very rowdy and super fun to shout out "BEAM" and jump out of their chair every time that it comes up in the song. And while Gavin loves things that are both rowdy and fun, he is feeling quite at home in his new class.
My only concern today was that nursery has snacks and Sunbeams do not, and church overlaps lunch time. Luckily I gave him plenty of things to eat this morning and he seemed to make it through just fine.

So, I didn't take this picture today, but about a week before Christmas. I couldn't help posting it. Paili is one of Gavin's good friends and is also in his new Sunbeam class and preschool. I just love how cute they look and how happy they were to let me take a picture of them together.

New Floor

This week, to celebrate our new year, we ripped out the old nasty disgusting linoleum floor in the kitchen (that was so 2008) and finally replaced it with new tile. I bought this tile about 18 months ago when we were building on the laundry room, so that I would have matching tile in the new laundry room and the kitchen, since they are adjoining rooms. I never dreamed that the kitchen tile would sit in the basement for so long waiting for the right time to be put in. We finally decided we could wait no longer, and while I did plenty of complaining about most of the process... the end results seems to make all of the work worth it... or at least it makes it easier for me to forget all of the work. Now that my full body aches and pains from kneeling and crawling on the floor for two solid days have gone away, I am really enjoying the new floor.

Since my kitchen is quite small it is hard to get a picture of the whole thing (and the cupboards are still too hideous for online viewing) so these close-ups will have to do. This is my fourth tile job in our duplex and the first one that Caleb has helped me with. He was pretty nervous to start, but he quickly became my measuring and cutting guy and did a pretty great job of it. The whole thing might have been like a fun date if it wasn't messy and painful and involved our kids screaming the other room since they were locked out of the kitchen for three days.