Funny Story (no SPT this week)

So, it's earth day and in the spirit of earth day, I believe my three year old decided to give back to the earth. No pictures of this event, as it had passed by the time that Neil found out what was happening. I believe that you will have mixed reviews on wanting to see pictures anyway. So, are you in suspense long enough? I wanted to make a dramatic intro to Paden's "giving back to mother earth". So, here's the story: Today, Neil hears Paden in the bathroom, so he goes to see if he needs help. He had no pants nor underwear anywhere to be found. So, Neil asks him where they are. Paden replies, "outside." So, what are they doing outside. "I pooped outside," says Paden so candidly. Sure enough, Neil went to check and there's the poo and the pants outside. So, there you have it. Paden is giving back by saving water and pooping freely on the lawn. During the last couple of potty training weeks, we have let him pee outside because boys seem to think that is fun. We recall it helped Gunnar potty training, it's warm enough outside right now, so why not. It saves Paden time going upstairs to a bathroom, he can just go out the patio sliding door and voila. Neil had to have a little chat with Paden about where it's appropriate to poo. So, that's the great story of the day! Keep reading below for Gunnar's story of the day for yesterday!

Oh the joys!

So, we have Gunnar in t-ball and boy is that pretty funny. A group of 12 or so five and six year olds running around like chickens with their heads cut off is definitely a site to see. Gunnar not only doesn't like his picture taken (I am sure I have mentioned that before), but for some reason he says he doesn't like hats. Well, Neil ALWAYS wears a hat, so I don't know how our son doesn't like them. Oh wait, the whining started before we even left because he all of a sudden decided that he wasn't going to go because he didn't know how to play a game and he was going to lose - blah, blah, blah. Just like most things with Gunnar, once he gets there doing whatever it is that he is refusing to do, he's fine. It's pretty typically. So, we made it to the field. He did wear the hat and looks pretty good too. It was pretty cold because of a slight breeze - OK it was pretty cold for a not-so-smart mom who went straight from work with work shoes and no chair or blanket!!! Yeah, my toes were frozen by the end. Gunnar got a little bored in the field. At one point, he was by 3rd base, kneeling facing the outfield, then he flopped over and was hunched in a ball on the ground. I really have no idea what he was doing. I didn't get a picture of that somehow. I had the camera and even the coach asked if I caught that one! The ball really only goes toward the pitching "mound" when they do hit it and so, the action is between the pitching mound and first base. I hope he makes it through the season. I hope I make it though the season. I think we have like 12 games or so. I am not sure what I was thinking letting him sign up for t-ball, but when they sent the notice home from school he was interested. They have track right now too and we didn't know about that or we might have tried that instead. Gunnar is a great runner and likes to race, so he might have liked that a little better. Oh well, t-ball is what we have, so we'll do our best to stick it out.

Gunnar reluctantly agrees to wear the ball cap - at least it's his favorite color. I could only imagine if it was something other than blue!

Here Gunnar shows pretty good throwing form. He can throw pretty well, actually.

This must have been right before he got completely bored and curled up in a ball.

Good form . . . for a 5-year old . . .

And he hits the ball! The next shots on the camera show him following through all the way around until he's about backwards!

And he gets tagged out . . . which so did EVERY kid. This other team was not encouraging team work and this kid grabbed the ball everytime and tagged every runner. Oh well. All kids bat and there's no outs anyway.

SPT: What was I thinking?

Lelly's challenge for this week's Self-portrait is a good one:for tuesday, april 15th, the challenge is to provide a photo for the following caption:
"what was i thinking?!?"
c'mon, i know you ALL will have a great story to tell.

So, in reality I couldn't think of something real recent that I had to wonder what in tarnation I was doing. When I peeked at Neighbor Jane Payne's post prior to posting mine, I was reminded of this past Saturday when we were all working in the yard. I have no pictures from it though. If I did have a picture it would be of me with extremely itchy, watery, swollen eyes after trying my hand at the leaf blower/vacuumer. As I mentioned yesterday, it's a great device, but it took quite toll on my allergies. I know better and was actually mulling over the very question in my tiny brain, "What was I thinking?"

I have been going through pictures recently just seeing what we have, reliving memories, etc. I hadn't got to my jr high, high school or college pics yet. When I saw the question for this challenge however, I was immediately reminded of my 8th grade year.

That's me in the middle . . .

"What was I thinking . . . when I chose that outfit?"

I must have been thinking that I was the coolest person alive! Those are Chuck Taylor All Star Converse original high tops in black, so that is pretty dang cool. But seriously . . . cut-off jean shorts with long johns underneath, super long shirt hanging out of my sweatshirt - that was on purpose I am sure. My socks do match my sweatshirt - that's always been important to me (seemingly)!
If that's not enough, here's a picture of my best friends and I posing on some one's crappy ford ranger truck. What I recall about this is that we did not know who the truck belonged to and we were the coolest for "sneaking" a pose on this strangers truck.

Wow, all the 6th & 7th graders at my school must have thought they could never be so cool OR really that us 8th graders were the biggest dorks ever!!!

PS - I still haven't got my growth spurt! I am sure I am an inch or two taller now than I was in 8th grade, but yep . . . it's true, typically my friends didn't have to shop in the petite section.

Picture update

Just a quick note . . . I was going through oodles of pictures recently. I posted a new album on ShutterFly of Pictures of Paden. There's LOTS of older pics in there. I'll do one for Gunnar soon too. I just thought I should share them since they aren't getting much use sitting on the computer. Enjoy!

Allergies are not fun - in case you were wondering! I think they (the allergies) get me out of leaf blowing/vacuuming though! (leaf blowers/vacuumers are great yard tools, but dust blowing suckers!) If there are errors on this post, it is because I can barely see with my itchy, watery, tired eyes. It must be time for more benadryl. :)

SPT: If I had eyes in the back of my head . . .

Lelly issued this challenge: we've all heard that *mom*-like expression: "i've got eyes in the back of my head" (usually delivered as some sort of warning.) do you ever wonder what you would see if you actually DID have eyes in the back of your head?? this week, the challenge is to look past the "self" in the self-portrait, and focus on what's going on behind you. this is a great opportunity to practice using those eyes in the back of your head!

I think that I took a little different spin on this challenge, although I haven't read anyone else's posts yet, so I don't really know if it's different or not.

Since my sister-in-law, Susan, got the easy self-portrait over the weekend at our family gathering,I had to come up with something else. Actually, Susan is always the one with the camera and so she was able to get her challenge done. She didn't steal the idea from me at all and I am thankful she is always documenting moments in her crazy photo snaping way! We don't always get the family together a lot anymore as the years go on, so it was great to have as many as we had there (several not there still) and the results were great - check them out on Susan's blog.

Sooooo, anyhoo . . . I have been thinking how to complete this challenge. I have a hard time taking my own photo with our camera because it's big (nice) and bulky. So, I thought maybe I could find a few photos of recent past that might work.

The challenge for me turned from "What's going on behind me?" to "What has gone on behind me?" As I looked through pictures, I found many things that are behind me:

~ Our old house - the yard full of weeds, the mud hole, the terrible carpet that showed everything, the smallness of our house, etc. I am so grateful for where we are now and I am happy to look back on the old house. Here's a couple of great pictures of the infamous mud hole. Good times.

~ Baby everything - I no longer have baby boys, I have big boys (well 5.5 yrs & 3 yrs). I ran into pictures of baby strollers, baby highchairs, baby swings, baby jumpers, baby bathtubs, baby bottles, baby binkies, baby carseats, baby cribs, baby bouncy chairs and babies in diapers! Just wanted to share a cute couple of them - it was hard to pick though.





~ Naked kids - It is quite amazing how many hundreds of pictures I have of the boys with only their diaper, pull-up, or underwear on. Gunnar, now that he is older, has to wear clothes most of the time; we don't let him run around "nakey" as he used to love. Paden hasn't been into "nakey" as Gunnar was when he was little. So, most pictures have Gunnar "nakey" and Paden with clothes. Too funny.

~ 20 pounds - yep I lost 20 pounds that I had gained during my 2nd pregnancy. So, that's good and it's been a while since I lost it and I have maintained a better weight/health since and it's been good. Although because of my height, my Body Mass Index (BMI) still says I am overweight - what is with the BMI anyway, it just doesn't seem accurate still. But, I am good for now - compared to this, I am good:

~Age 30 - turing age 30 didn't seem to phase me all that much, but coming up on 32 is starting to weird me out. Since my neices and nephews are growing up and getting married and having babies, that is starting make me feel older. I feel like I should be 27 - that was a good age!


What I found behind me the most is A LOT of FANTABULOUS, SPECTACULAR, WONDERFUL MEMORIES! What's behind me most of the time currently is my boys! Everytime I turn around, there they are!!! I love them and I am glad they are always there, even if it means they get stepped on and poked in the eye - hey maybe they shouldn't follow so closely! :)

Catch-up

So, it's probably time for a little catch-up. It's been a while since I have found time to post something. I have been searching for something worthwhile to vent, ur, I mean post about.

So, we travelled back "home" for our nephew's wedding. It was a nice short wedding. It was great to see most all of the family members and visit with them. Our other favorite nephew and his wife and kids came to stay with us on Thursday night, then we travelled up together. I thought we had a great time. I guess Garth and Deborah can speak for themselves, but I had a good time! :-)

I have no pictures from the wedding - too busy chasing kids and catching up with my "girls" (the nieces). I did take a few pics (with someone else's camera) of some of us lounging around in a manufactured home lot! I got a few off the camera and emailed them to myself from grandpa's computer. The best one is of baby Chase! So, I guess we'll go with that one for sharing today. I didn't get a chance to email them all to myself and there were some other good ones.

We had a great Sunday watching General Conference and having gormet hamburgers for dinner. Garth, Neil and Dean were in charge of dinner and we went against the grain and had dinner after second session instead of in between; I think that threw everyone off, but it was some good food. Swiss & mushroom burgers, teriyaki burgers, avacado burgers - it was yummy - and I don't think anyone noticed that I forgot to cook the fries!

It was a good weekend of being with family. It was great to see our long-lost Utah family - Garth, Deborah, Ali & Chase and Dean, Heidi & Raik. Aunt Pam and Uncle Dayle better come next time! :)