First week of summer

This was the official first week of summer. It went by very well. Nothing very exciting happened. We did the usual chores in the morning, lots of time spent outdoors with popsicles and jumping on the tramp. We went to the park a couple of times. I got some pictures of the kids at Discovery Park. We went swimming on Friday. I was a little skeptical about going at first. Jack still isn’t a huge fan of water, although he tries to act very brave and last summer Izzy was terrified of water, so I didn’t know what to expect. It was actually very fun. At the swimming pool we go to they have an area that is designated for 5 and under. It’s across the big pool so I had to coax Jack to let me hold him. He was terrified that I would drop him (even though he had a life jacket on), so I finally ended up just grabbing him kicking and screaming to go across the pool. We got there and both he and Izzy loved it. Izzy went up and down the kiddie slides all by herself. I got her the first couple of times, but then she decided that getting the water in her face wasn’t that bad and she did it all by herself. Cole and Riian were able to play with each other and spent most of the afternoon going down the big slide. It was actually a great time. I haven’t enjoyed going swimming for about 7 years because I’ve always seemed to have at least one little kid who was terrified of the water, but I think we may actually make this a habit this year.

I am spending this week getting ready for Girls Camp. I, along with a few other leaders, get to take 30 girls ages 12-18 camping for 3 nights. They do it every year and the girls are very excited about it. I can’t say that I feel the same way. I never went when I was a youth and have not enjoyed camping very much since then. But the campground is well groomed and there are actual bathrooms with showers so it shouldn’t be too bad. We have had lots of rain these past couple of weeks, which I love because it cools off the hot days, but it means that it is very cold and wet up in the mountains. We’re hoping it doesn’t snow while we are up there, but they said it has happened before. I’m just going to make sure I pack really warm jammies and lots of woolies.

Our summer is already starting to look a lot busier than we originally planned it to be, but we are looking forward to it. We are planning on going to Fort Collins over the 4th of July (by the way can we stay with you Gay on the 1st and 2nd?). And have much family visiting us. But for those who aren’t planning to come and visit, please do, we would love to see you.

These are some pretty cool bells that they had at the park.They were numbered, and above it they have some songs written out and you just hit the bell with the corresponding number to play the song. Cole was loving these.

This is not a great picture of Cole, but trying to get a picture of him holding still is near to impossible

There you go Gay, you asked for a recent picture of Izzy, here she is.

These are cool things that you stand on and then turn the wheel and you spin round and round. Very fun, very dizzy, but very fun

May Madness

It has been a pretty jam-packed month. The weather has warmed up so that it is nice pretty much every day. The kids are enjoying playing outside ‘til much later then they usually would because it is so warm and the sun doesn’t go down ‘til much later. The kids finished up school on Friday, the 29th. We are all very excited for the summer. Yes, even me. I like it when we don’t have a set schedule we have to be on. I like being able to be in our jammies until 10am, because there is really no reason to get dressed. I like eating when we’re hungry and not when the clock says 12:00. I like being able to enjoy the cool summer evenings, because that is the only time it is cool enough to go outside, and not having to worry about the kids staying up too late. I do really enjoy summer, except for the heat part, but so far, it has not gotten that hot. The kids and I have decided that this summer we’re going to try a “Friday Fun Day”. Meaning, on Friday’s, there will be no chores and we get to do something fun. I have already had many suggestions of things they want to do.

Cole has been very busy with baseball this year. This is the first year that he had to be drafted. He was drafted onto the Braves. It’s been quite the difference in how serious the players are. They practice every week for about 2 ½ hours, and then have games on Monday and Wednesday evening. This next week will be his last. He has a game Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week. His team has struggled this year, winning only one of their games so far. But it doesn’t seem to faze Cole. Cole was very excited a couple of week ago when, after taking the Iowa Standard Tests, he received a certificate from them that said he had scored in the top 10% in the nation. He thought that was pretty cool, as did Nate and I.

Riian has been busy being Riian. She is such an outdoorsy person that as soon as it is nice enough, she heads for the door and doesn’t look back. She often comes back from long hours of being outside, very wet or very dirty, sometimes both. She is excited to start Coach Pitch baseball this year. No more Tball for her. She feels very grown up. Her two best friends that have lived across the street from us ever since we moved here are moving this week. She will miss them, but seems to be taking their departure in stride.

Jack graduated from preschool this month. He still is not quite getting why he has to wait so long to start kindergarten. He was pretty sure he would be going to kindergarten the day after he graduated preschool. He loves school and is constantly working on workbooks. He can already read quite well. I was concerned about his socializing skills. He has never been a people person, not that he doesn’t like people, or that he’s afraid of people or social situations, it’s more that he doesn’t seem to find any use for other people. He is nice and friendly, he just never seeks out other people. But I have noticed a little more lately that he wants to spend more time playing games with Cole and Riian and spending time with their friends. His birthday is this month and I told him since he is turning 5 he can have a friend party. He already has his birthday planned out, down to the kind of cake he wants; he just doesn’t seem to feel that friends are a necessary part of the equation. Unfortunately, mean mom that I am, I am making him invite kids.

Izzy is being…Izzy. She makes us laugh all the time. She can now talk really well, and say anything. She has started talking in full on sentences, and some of the things she comes up with are quite funny. It’s fun to try and hear her try out some of the bigger words she’s heard some of her siblings say. At the dinner table yesterday, she sat down, looked at all the food and proclaimed it looked “Won-de-fo” (that’s wonderful for all those that don’t speak 2 year old). This morning Nate was tickling her feet and she looked at him crossly and said “Dad, yet go my piggies”. She is also extremely stubborn. Her favorite thing to do is pester Jack. Her favorite way to pester him is to grab his shirt. She doesn’t pull it or pinch him, she grabs on and won’t let go. It makes him very angry, and the angrier he seems to get, the more she seems to enjoy it.

I think the highlight of this month for the kids, was being to meet Brandon Mull in person. He is the author of the “Fablehaven” series of books. The kids and I have been reading them together, and they just love them. He was doing a book signing for his new book at the Costco nearest us. So I took Cole and Riian and we waited in line so that he could sign their book. His publicist was walking through the line with post-it notes asking what names each person would like on their book. He would then write it on a post-it, hand it to you and then when you got the table you could give it the Brandon. So he wrote both Cole and Riian’s name in the book and they thought that was such a cool thing.
Nate and I are doing well. We celebrated 11 years of marriage this month. Nate is playing on the softball team at his work. They play every Thursday night, so we have been up to see some of his games. He has also starting golfing with some of the guys from work as well as bringing his bike to work so that they can ride some of the trails during their lunch break. He came home Friday limping and said he had hit his knee a couple of times on his bike while riding. He now has a very ugly looking bruise on the side of his right knee. I am just trying to feel better. I have been sick the better part of this month. I went to the doctor at the beginning of the month to check my iron levels and they were low again. My doctor told me that he was a little concerned because the treatments I am getting should last much longer than they do. So we are currently in the process of trying to figure out where all the blood is going. We have a couple of tests and things we are doing and hopefully will have something figured out in the next couple months.
Well, that’s about it from the Brown household this month. I’m sure there will be much more exciting things to follow in the next, so stay tuned.

11 Years

11 years. 4 children. 2 dogs (only 1 currently). 4 different homes. 8 different jobs. Many tears. Many more laughs. There have been hard times and wonderfully happy times, but I’ve loved every minute of all of them. Happy Anniversary Babe, I love you!

Birthdays, Easter and Spring Break

I did really think about trying to write more than once a month this year. But alas, I think I will just be happy that I do get it at least once a month. This month was filled with Birthdays and Easter and Spring Break.
I turned 32 on the 10th. My Dad called me that day and mentioned that when my mom was 32 I was 10, which is how old Cole will be this year. I remember my mom when I was 10. I remember that she was OLD! But somehow, I still feel like I’m 19 (except when I try to do anything athletic…) For my birthday this year we got an elliptical machine. We set it up in front of the TV and I have been able to exercise on it while watching all the shows I record on the DVR. I also didn’t realize how badly out of shape I was in until I tried the elliptical machine for the first time, and after 20 minutes, thought I was going to die. But I am now up to 30 minutes and when I am done, I feel more refreshed then dead, so I suppose that is progress.
Easter was two days after my birthday. Somehow this year, I felt a little unprepared. We didn’t really do any of the usual egg hunts. Usually we get together with some friends, but this year I didn’t really get around to coordinating that with anyone. The kids did enjoy their basket. At our house the Easter bunny just brings one basket for everyone. Nate hid the eggs that the kids had dyed on Saturday night. Izzy really enjoyed dying her eggs this year. We got some dye that came with flower stickers you could put on the eggs when they were dry. Izzy enjoyed putting them on the eggs and taking them back off the eggs.

The Monday after Easter the kids and I went to Vegas. The kids were on Spring Break, and rather than spend 5 days at home with them, I decided to let them spend 5 days at my sister’s home. My brother was there, having come to spend Easter with my Dad and sister. On Monday night, my brother, sister and I stayed up way to late playing Rock Band 2 and reminiscing. On Tuesday, we went to the EthelM chocolate factory. Unfortunately, they were on break when we got there so we didn’t get to see them making any chocolate, but we did take some home. We also went to In-N-Out for lunch. I haven’t had it for years and forgot how good it was. We were hoping to take the kids swimming while we were there, but unfortunately Vegas was going through a cold front and it was only about 50 degrees the whole time we were there. We ended up sneaking into the Tropicana resort and swimming in their indoor pool. We didn’t really mean to sneak in, we had every intention of paying, but when we got there, there was no one to give our money too. The water was really cold, so Shea, Izzy, Jack and I sat on the hot tub steps while Cole and Riian played in the pool. On Thursday we went to Plant World and then to the Mandalay Bay aquarium. Plant World is pretty much this big nursery, but they have a large collection of exotic birds and 3 or 4 giant tortoises. The kids were enthralled with the tortoises. Unfortunately, while we were looking at the McCaw, it cawed so loudly that Izzy got very frightened and wouldn’t stop screaming nor take her head out of my shoulder for quite some time after. The kids loved the aquarium. Each of the tanks have a number on them and they give you these "Audio Wands" that you can type the number in and it will tell you about what's in the tank. The kids loved being able to control what they wanted to hear about. They also have a "Petting Zoo" where you can touch Manta Rays. Jack really wanted to touch them, but was too afraid to get that close to the water. Poor guy!. I only have a few pictures of this week because I let my brother take the majority of them. I would link you to his sight, but he hasn’t put this pictures up yet (hint, hint!).

We came back into town Friday night and then my family came into town on Tuesday for my cousins wedding. This whole past week was spent driving back and forth to Draper, Utah (about 15 minutes). Spending lots of time laughing with relatives, playing many games, and eating waaayy too much food. It was a very fun week, but very exhausting. Riian and Isabelle got really sick on Wednesday. I felt horrible because this was the day that the wedding was on. I had to leave the house at 7:45. I asked Riian if she wanted to come with me or go to school and she said that she thought she would be fine at school. When I got home at 2:00, there was a message on my answering machine saying that Riian had been in the nurse’s office since 12:30. I felt horrible! I ran up to the school to get her and she slept in my bed the whole rest of the day. Nate stayed home with her and Izzy that night while I took the boys to the reception. Thursday was bring your kids to work day at Nate’s work. Riian said she was feeling fine to go, but was a little more quiet than usual. When I went to pick them up at 4:00, Nate said that she was pretty quiet and lethargic all day. She came home and slept the rest of that day too. I kept her home on Friday and she seemed much better. This morning I woke up not feeling great. I went to church for an hour and then brought Izzy home. We got home about 12:30, and both of us slept til’ 4:00. It was a great nap and I feel much better now.
We still have one more birthday to go this month, so I’m sure that I will be writing sometime in the next week. Hopefully, by not writing as frequently as I had hoped to, I didn’t lose any of the few readers who do read my blog, but I will try to be more regular from now on.

Happy Birthday!

This little girl is now another year older. My baby is now 2. We took down the crib and got rid of the changing table, not because she's potty trained, but because she has to scrunch up to much when she lays on it. She is our last, and it is kind of exciting being done with the "having babies" stage. From now on travel will be easier because we don't have to pack the port-a-crib. Nor do we have to pack any extra baby food. I don't ever have to worry about "feeding the baby". She can feed herself, all I have to do is put something in her hand or on her plate. Now we are just waiting for when she is potty trained. She had a fun birthday. She kept singing Happy Birthday to herself all day. Her big present was a "big-girl" bed so she received some little presents last night. She enjoyed the cake, but wasn't sure what to do about the candles so Daddy had to come help her. We have a rule in our home that after birthdays and Christmas any presents the kids get are theirs and theirs alone for 24 hours. Meaning they don't have to share for 24 hours, I usually find after about that time they are a little tired of them and are willing to share. Jack is having an especially hard time with this as Izzy received an alphabet fridge magnet set and won't let Jack play with her.
She looks a little rag-a-muffin in these pictures, but that's just because she was having so much fun playing outside and her ponytail was falling out.

It has finally started getting warm outside. Last week it was warm but still jacket weather because of the wind, but this week has been beautiful. The kids have been able to play outside without their jackets and it is warm, but not hot. We have been spending alot of time outside jumping on the tramp, drawing with the sidewalk chalk, and playing in the play area.
I realize from this last picture you would think that it was cold out. It's not, but it is a little windy and Jack has an unexplainable irrational fear that his hair is going to blow off... I really wish I was kidding. ..

Izzy's musical debut

I know you all have been waiting for it, so here it is. Isabelle Anise Brown singing Baby Baluga


I know it's pretty great.

It's finally starting to warm up abit here so we have been able to get out of the house alot more. Which means more picture taking opportunities. We went to see Jessie's last play at Snow College in Manti. She is done this semester and is transfering to BYU. She played Lucy in "Your'e a Good Man Charlie Brown". We met Grandma and Grandpa down there and had fun playing at a little park down the street and eating Oriental food that was surprisingly good.

Hopefully I'll feel and urge to write more this month. I'm really trying to get back in the habit of writing on a regular basis, or at least regular for me.

The Secret Rose

This year in Sunday School and Primary, we are studying The Doctrine and Covenants and Church History. Today as we sat down to dinner after church, we went around the table asking each member of the family what they had learned today. Jack had drawn this picture:

Mommy: What is this picture of Jack?

Jack: The Secret Rose

Daddy: I think you mean the Sacred Grove

Mommy: What happened in the Sacred Grove?

Jack: I don't know

Mommy: Well what is in your picture?

Jack: Well that man is Jesus.

Mommy: Jesus?

Jack: Yea, Heavenly Father and Joseph Smith aren't there yet.

So there you have it. Now you all know what really happened that day in the Secret Rose. Oh and according to Cole, after Joseph Smith retrieved the Golden Plates, he was chased by angry Moms, not mobs.