Best Show and Tell Ever!

Caleb has been asking to take his remote control dino to school with him for show and tell since Christmas. I kept putting it off knowing that either Mike or I would have to take him and then stay during it given that it won't exactly fit into his backpack. Well I had completely forgotten about it until last night when Caleb asked if it was that day yet. Well since today was the last day of school, we had to figure it out and quick.

Mike took Caleb and Spike with him to work then took Caleb to school and helped him show it off. From what I hear it was a huge hit. The kids and the teachers absolutely loved it. Spike chased them around the room and showed off his bone picking up and dropping skills and then Caleb gave a few kids turns with the remote. But first up was his gf Ashton :).

It sounds so stinking cute. I wish I would have been there or at least had Mike take the camera and snap some pics. He said his cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing at the kids so much. So much fun and I was home with 2 crabby babies. I think Mike got the better end of that deal.

Picture Time

Mike and I were looking at our pictures taken in the fall and couldn't believe how much these boys had changed so we decided it was time for some new pictures of the boys. I had a coupon for Target and they were also doing a fun "Road Rebels" event with a Harley so we thought we would try it out. In true Zaden fashion, he would not smile for the camera lady. He's so smiley at home, it surprised me this time. I think he must get a little overwhelmed in the studio. Otherwise it went ok for this time around.

Zaden
Zaric

Caleb

Momma's boys in their matching baseball shirts

Ouren Biker Boys

Born to Be Wild!

grandparents/aunts uncles etc : We didn't order a ton of prints but if there's something you really want, we still have time to order if you let us know which ones/size etc. Or we are happy to give you our code to the online system where you can order your own prints.

In Time

If there's one thing Caleb taught us, it was patience. Caleb was born 7 weeks early and spent the first 2 weeks of his life in the NICU at the hospital. We were often frustrated when he didn't do the things he should be doing according to the "experts" and age timeline. Often having to remind ourselves that his chronological and gestational age were 2 very different things. It took him a while to catch up but he did and now there's no stopping him. I wanted to write this blog mainly for me to remind myself of the patience we learned with Caleb and the struggles we went through with him to help me with the twins.

Zaric and Zaden were 8 weeks early and spent 4 weeks in the NICU. There are several days when I feel like I am not trying hard enough with them and it takes me hours to convince myself that they will do things when they are ready to do things. I think back to Caleb and the anxiety lightens a little. The boys are almost 14 months old and still not walking. Most days I am ok with it and others I fret and worry. When we are around other children that seemed to excel and do things ahead of "schedule" or right on time it can get stressful and worrisome. I have found myself having to stop often lately and tell myself that "technically" they are only almost 12 months if you correct for the gestational age. That helps a little. Still as a mother you want them to do what everyone else is doing and you worry if something is wrong. At least I get to enjoy them being "babies" for longer since they still grow up too fast. I know that I'll be the first to jump up and down with excitement when they do decide to walk (and I'll let you all know) but I also know that I'll miss this crawling stage when it's over. So patience, Rebecca, patience.

Chalk it Up

Mike and Caleb love to draw on the sidewalk with chalks all summer long. Mike threw this Superman symbol on the driveway on Monday night and last night when we put the boys out there while I watered my flowers they went right for it. They were pretty colorful after sitting in the chalk.

But they had fun. We didn't get a chance to get them bathed before bed last night, so I am looking forward to colorful water this morning.

An Officer and A Gentleman

Yesterday this handsome officer showed up at my house. He's a little short, blonde hair and blue eyes. He's missing a couple teeth, but still the man of my dreams. It didn't take him long to find a suitable cop car and go catch some bad guys.

He even gave me a ticket. But not what you'd think. I asked him if I was speeding and he said "no it's a ticket to a baseball game in my room." Sweet! So looks like I have a date with this handsome gentleman.

Happy Birthday Schydi!!!!

Dear Schydi,

Happy Birthday to the cutest 7 year old I know. Thanks for meeting me in Orem yesterday to take the boys to Papa's and letting me take you to Build A Bear for your big day. I had fun watching you make your bear and trying on all the outfits.

I am glad that you found the perfect bear and cheerleader outfit to go with her. I hope you are having so much fun with Blossom.

Happy Birthday sweetie and I'll see you on Friday for some cake and ice cream.

Love, Aunt Becca

9 Years

Today was our 9th Anniversary. When we were trying to think of what to do my smart sister came up with the idea to go to Wendover, NV. Neither Mike nor I had ever been and since it's only an hour and half or so away we decided to go for it. Everything worked out nicely. My sister was able to meet me in Orem yesterday and get the boys and take them to Papa's for the night. Papa was nice enough to take today off to watch them. And off we went on a quick road trip. Here's Wendover Willie welcoming us to town, I truly felt welcome after seeing him ;).


With it being the middle of the week and no big acts in town, we got a steal on a hotel room. And bonus an even bigger steal on not just a room but a mini suite to include a huge jacuzzi tub and steam shower....oh yes! So here I am in front of the Montego bay where we stayed.

For those of you not from around here, Wendover sits right on the border of Utah and Nevada. Gambling is illegal in Utah, so a couple of the hotels have their parking lots in Utah and then the casino/hotel part just a couple feet inside the NV border. Our hotel was one of them. So here's me and Mike straddling the state line for a photo op.

Mike and I each took $20 and played it on the slots. Mike came home with 2 penny's. I ended up coming home with $43. So that's a win of $23! Look at me :). I made sure to rub it in, a lot. But then I ended up spending it on a shirt and jacket for him at the mall today. How did that happen?

On the way there, you drive right across the salt flats. You know where they break land speed records and whatnot? Well anyway the Bonneville Raceway is about 5 miles off the freeway so we decided we may as well go have a look. When you get to the end of the road all there is, is a sign and lots of salt. 44,000 acres of salt to be more precise. So here's just a couple pics to share.

Mike and I walked out on it a ways to strike some poses for the camera.

We explored and of course tasted it to make sure it was in fact salt. And it definitely was :). Of course I was a little more civilized than Mike in tasting it. All of that salt and no fries....it was sad.

It was a fun quick trip. Papa brought the boys back to Provo tonight so we went and met him and picked them up. They had fun and didn't really even care that Mom and Dad were back. Zaric tried to go with Papa again when we were heading out. Good thing we are heading to Price in a couple of days.

Happy 9 years Mike! A big thanks to Tracey for suggesting it and for coming to get the boys. And a big thanks to Papa who watched the boys which allowed this to happen. You guys rock!

Only One

We have happy and sad news about our Robin nest in our little spruce tree. Only one of the babies survived. We are not sure what happened to the others. Mike found their dead little bodies around the tree and cleaned them up. We are unsure if they were picked off by some predator or if the Momma bird discarded them for some unknown reason. But here's the happy little hungry guy that is left. It's been so fun having them over for a stay. It looks as if they leave the nest in about 2 weeks so they won't be here much longer. We'll try to get one more pic of him before he flies away for another adventure somewhere else.

Oh Bubbles!

Sometimes when Mike is being awesome and bathing the boys for me, I will sneak off and take a bath of my own. Last night was one of those nights. I felt like having a bubble bath. The babies seem to have a beacon and know just when I am in the tub and love to come find me when they are done with their bath and play in my water over the side of the tub. I haven't let them have a bubble bath before of their own. Caleb doesn't like bubbles in the tub so I just haven't bought any kids bubbles lately. They were in awe of bubbles. I kept scooping some up in my hands and letting them touch and play in them. Of course Zaden had to try to eat some. I caught him before he got too much in there. He didn't like that taste one bit, so I don't think I'll have to worry about that in the future. But what fun they had discovering bubbles. (Don't worry the pics are clean, Mike was good about that ;) ).

Next Stop- Summer

There are few things I enjoy about the summer heat but this is one of them. Anything over about 75 degrees is enough for me to melt. Today it got well over 80 and after Mike was done doing yard work, we decided to let Caleb go ahead and run through the sprinkler. It was a nice kick-start to all of the summer adventures yet to come.

Dad also played in the water some and took Zaric through a couple of times. Zaric really didn't care about it at all. But Dad had fun.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Tonight it was finally time for Caleb to use those coveted Salt Lake Bees tickets that he got from the Easter Bunny. It just so happened that they were playing the Omaha Royals (perhaps the Eater Bunny planned it this way?). So that made it even more fun to talk a little smack. The game ended in a loss for the Bees by 1 point! 9-8! However, the entire series was 3 games to 1 for the Bees so I guess we had to give them 1 win just to make them feel good ;). We had to leave early because it was getting late and the babies were getting cranky, but we still had a good time. Here's some pictures to share.


Snowie....Yum! Caleb got his very own this time and he was in heaven. We spent a small fortune on ball park food, but that's just a requirement of going to a game. It's part of what makes it fun.

And Caleb's new foam finger. We have an old one from when they were the Stingers around the house that he loves to play with so we thought it was time for an upgrade to something that said their current name. He tormented me in the car with it all the way home.

Just some pictures I took during the game. It was breast cancer awareness night, which is why they were wearing the pink jerseys instead of their regular black or white ones.

I intended to show off the shirts I got for the boys (you can see Caleb's). All 3 of them matched and it was darling but I couldn't get them to all be good at the same time to get a pic. So I will have to put them on again another day and take a pic to share with you all.

Can't wait for the next game we get to go to this season! Hooray for the Minor Leagues.

Hit A Thon

The Granger Baseball league is doing a Hit A Thon fundraiser this year for all the age groups (Caleb's Tball included). They are giving prizes to the longest hits in all age groups and one big prize to the kid that earns the most money. You can do donations by the foot for however far Caleb's hit is on his turn (which isn't far given he's a T baller) or can just do a flat donation.

Anyone interested in Donating to this cause can send the money here before May 29th. Make any checks out to Granger Baseball.

Call or email me with any questions.

Thanks!

Spring Preschool Program

Caleb's preschool program was last Friday. They sang at least 20 songs over the 30 min period so I had to just pick a few of my favorites to share with you. This meant that Mike had to work hard to splice the songs down to uploadable sizes which is what took so long to get them posted. Thanks Mike.

Enjoy!

A Request

So today Caleb asked if he could write a note to Santa because he knows what he wants for Christmas. He wants a Sister! And we could even put another bed in his room so she could share with him. Well ok, I guess that makes it do-able? Ummmmm ......no.....
I asked him what if a sister would wake him up crying? Not to worry, he has already thought of this. He wants a sister that's big like him....not a baby sister. Whew! We are off the hook.

So Tracey, can Schydi just come live with us? That would work out perfectly.
Thanks in advance.

Sketti Night

Need I say more?

Hot Rod

We got Caleb a bike a couple of years ago and he had never really been interested in riding it. We found that so odd, a little boy who didn't like to ride bikes? He would play with everything else except that most of the time when we played outside. Even opting to play with his trike from when he was 2 instead. Well this summer something has switched on and he's been on that silly bike more often. The problem is, he had outgrown it over the last 2 summers of it collecting dust. So we went on a new bike hunt a couple days last week (which was harder than expected) and finally settled on this new one from Toys R Us. He loves it and the first thing he told me when we went outside to plant flowers yesterday was, "it's a beautiful day for bike riding huh Mom." So cute, can we say spoiled? But he's so worth it.