In the words of a 2-yr old

So the other day I did the typical mom thing where I licked my thumb and wiped Cody's face. He didn't flinch like Corbin does now, he just said "Why you tasting me, Mommy?".

Yesterday I was trying to get him to blow his nose into the tissue, but he doesn't quite get that so I just kept wiping and he's like "Don't take my boogers, Mommy, I need those."

First Day of Kindergarten!!

I can't believe that my little boy is going to kindergarten. Five years went by SO fast! I didn't think I would be one of those moms that get all sad when their "baby" goes off to school, but about 5 this morning, I did have a little anxiety/excitement. This is like a whole new phase in our lives. Since I have three boys, I kind of feel like a veteran mom sometimes - but things are really just beginning. I finally got the whole baby and toddler thing figured out and now we're into a whole new ball game. But I am so excited for all the fun times ahead. I really do LOVE being a mom. I think the best part is seeing them learn, have new experiences and get excited about life. But back to the subject at hand, Corbin had a great first day. He has been counting down for weeks and was SO EXCITED today. He is so sweet and I love that he loves to learn. I just love HIM!

He was really excited about his "jungle classroom". I was told his teacher was "older", which I took to mean the nice grandma type, but apparently "older" in Utah terminology meant about my age. She has been teaching Kindergarten for 10 years and is totally on the ball! Everything so far seems so organized and just at the level of what these kids need. Corbin is really excited that he will have"homework" everyday. She has sent home a packet with projects and ideas for enhancing learning, including a parents guide with descriptions of what the children are learning, how to help, and what is appropriate for this age. He loves everything about the classroom and is so excited. I hope it stays that way.

Cody is really going to miss his brother. Today about 10 minutes after we got home from taking Corbin, Cody is wandering around and he's like "I can't find brother". I said "He's at school, remember?" Cody gave a sad and bummed out "ohhh". He will definitely miss his playmate.

THE last day of summer break

Since today was officially the last day before school starts, we had to do something. Russ is still gone hunting, but I am starting to feel more confident about taking three kiddos out on my own, so the boys and I went to the Children's Discovery Garden at Thanksgiving Point. It was a little crowded because it was the last two buck Tuesday (admission is normally $10 bucks for adults!). But we had alot of fun. Everything was in bloom and it was a beautiful day. They have a huge Noah's arc that squirts out water and the kids love to play in it. The also have a cool bear cave that they can crawl through and a kid-sized lighthouse they can climb up and play in. Besides Corbin getting lost in the maze on his way to the bathroom and me trying to figure out how to sit and feed Colton without losing track of Cody, everything turned out quite alright.

cool caterpillar thing the kids can climb in and on and around

trying to climb into the arc with the monkeys

I thought this was very brave considering that little fountain randomly decides to squirt 5 or 6 feet in the air every now and then . . .

Another dead end in the hedge maze! I barely fit my double stroller through here. It's supposed to be for kids, but I was quite glad when we finally found our way out.

More Table Talk

Tonight's question was "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Corbin: Everything.
Mom: Well, what do you want to be first?
Corbin: a firefighter

Mom: What do you want to be, Cody?
Cody: Ummmm
Corbin: I know Cody, you could be a ninja.
Cody: I wanna be a good guy.

Last Days of Summer . . .

Although I don't love the heat of summer, I am always sad when it comes to an end. I always feel like there are so many things I wanted to do but never got around to. Some things, like cleaning out the garage, will probably just wait till next year. But there are certain things you HAVE to do every year - camping, boating, pool, etc - at least once! I was pretty much out of commission the month of June, trying to figure how to do anything (like take a shower) with a newborn and a two year old, so we didn't really do much. Then July was filled with holidays and vacations and now August has almost come and gone. What happened to the "lazy days of summer"? So the last week or so I have really been trying to fit in some of the things we love before Corbin starts school. So here ya go.

Russ and I took the boys up to Payson Lakes, which we love. It is close, gorgeous and great for camping or just a day trip. This year we opted for just spending half a day - much less planning and packing. It was a beautiful day and the boys had tons of fun.

We also had to go to the new pool by Grandma's house. We have been talking about it for weeks. We finally went today!

Hopefully we will get to do a couple more "summer activities" even after school has started. I just don't want it to end!!

I want to be a spider

Corbin likes to do this thing while we are eating meals called "table talk" (he got it from the kids cup at Red Robin), it's basically just random questions that every person has to answer. Example: what do you want to be when you grow up, what is your favorite color, where do you want to visit, etc, etc. Yesterday it was "What animal would you want to be and why?"

Corbin: I would like to be a spider. [Mom: Why?] Because then I could build webs to protect myself from everything and I could go in everyone's house and they wouldn't see me.

Cody: Ummm, a tiger. [Mom: Why do you want to be a tiger?] Cody: Roarrrrr!

Colton is three months old!

We love this boy!!
At three months, Colton is such a sweet boy - most of the time. He loves to smile and talk. He likes it when his brothers sing and play with him. He is sleeping much better now and will actually just hang out occasionally and let his mother get something done!

Corbin finished his chore chart!

Corbin has been working on this chore chart for months (like since before Christmas). He got stickers for doing different random jobs. It started out that he got stickers for just about anything - picking up toys, putting away the silverware, setting the table, etc. But then some things became standard (which was the idea) and he had to do different jobs. It worked well. Throughout the chart there were random rewards on certain squares, so he just filled in the stickers and when he got to the one with the reward that's what he got. There were things like "go to McDonalds", "ice cream" (which meant actually going to get ice cream), surprise from mom (usually something fun like a book or a workbook - yes, he loves both). So the very last square said Jungle Jims. It is this little indoor amusement park type thing for kids. Corbin loves it! Long story short - he finished his chart and we finally went. We invited some friends from the fire dept to go with us . . .

Books, Books, Books

When I was younger, like elementary age, I loved to read. Then I went through this phase (aka high school) where I despised it and got by with alot of help from my friend Cliff. (Why are they called Cliff's Notes anyway?) Somehow I made it through college without reading hardly anything for pleasure while I worked my way through many, many textbooks and assigned books. Now finally the last few years I am enjoying reading again! I do still love non-fiction, but I have allowed myself to get into a novel or two thanks mostly in part to my book club that I joined when I lived in Provo (going on our 6th year!) and my new book club here in Sanish Fork that just got through year one. So since I love to hear what other people are reading, what they liked or didn't, I thought I would share a bit . . . if you want to see what I have read and how I ranked it, check out http://www.goodreads.com/profile/mindyj.

Usually in book club if there is a book I am not really into or I think I would rather spend time reading something else, I just skip it, but I am trying to expand . . . this month in my new book club, we are reading a juvenile fiction called The Lightning Thief. I might actully break out of my shell and do it. I'll let you know how it goes.

So in this book club, we decide what we are reading for the entire year. Here's the list, let me know if you have read and have any thoughts on any of them!

September -The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
October - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (already read this one, but I liked it so I'll probably read it again.)
November - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (We're actually reading this one right now for my old book club, so I guess I will be ahead of the game!)
January - Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
February - A History of Joseph Smith by His Mother
March - Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
April - The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
May - The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans
June -A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

So there are several that push me out of my non-fiction, historical fiction, true story genres that I prefer, but maybe that will be good for me. :)

By the way, for all of my book club gals in SF and the Sassy Sisters, I love book club! I like reading the books, of course, but I love getting together each month and catching up on each others lives and hearing the latest saga of love, family, kids, husbands, travels, etc. Husbands and kids are great, but I don't think I could do it all without my girlfriends too!

Car Games

So Corbin loves to play games in the car (I spy, ABC game, etc.). We play spelling bee - give him a word and he has to spell it. If he gets it right I have to clap and if he doesn't I have to buzz him. He often tries to make up new games too. The "song game" is where we lip sync to the radio - he does the boy singers and I have to do the girls. And since he can't really see me when I am driving, I have to sort of move my head, dance, tap my fingers or something so that he knows for sure that I am playing. The most recent one is my favorite. It's called "The World Game". I have to pick a country that I want to go to and he has to try and spell it. This is quite complicated for a five year old. So the other day I chose Egypt. Since he has a hard time pronouncing it, it was quite interesting to hear the attempts at spelling. So as he is rattling off different letters in no coherent order, I was trying to pronounce it slowly for him and trying to hint at the "y", Cody is on the other side imitating me and says laughing, "You want to go to 'Pee-gyft'?". And of course since they are boys, anything that has to do with Pee is just hilarious. I couldn't help but laugh, because I think that really is what Cody heard. Boys are great.

Corbin loves legos!

Corbin is very proud of the semi-truck he built. He got it for his 5th birthday and spent about a month working on it. When I first saw the instructions, I thought I was going to have to spend alot of time helping him. But he did it completely by himself. I am so proud of him! He is really proud because this is one of the lego sets that is for 7-12 yr olds. He thought that was pretty cool.

Muffin Tin Monday

I got this fun idea from my cousin (thanks, Emily!) and I guess there's a whole world out there of muffin tin meals (http://www.flickr.com/groups/muffintinmeals). It 's just a little twist on your average everyday lunch. My kids thought it was super fun and they ate it up. We invtied some neighbor friends over too.

This time we had Pokemon Mac n Cheese, squash and zucchini, carrots, dip for the carrots, apples and marshmallows.

Corbin and Sydney

Ashley and Cody got their own little tin.