Pardon Me...

Pardon Me

While I finish a project.

You see, I may not post for a bit

But it's not because all my children do is sit.

I am working on a blog book from 2009;

I think it's about time I get it done and sign on the dotted line.

Because before you know it it'll be 2011.

And then I'll be stuck doing 2 books... oh my heaven.

So, I will post a picture or two during my work time so you know that we're alive and well,

but other than that I will be working on a book so that at the end of the year I don't yell!!

Speed and "Thunder" for a Birthday

On Trevor's birthday this year, we had a great activity planned!  We had been waiting for it since it was announced earlier in the year and it had been on our calendar ever since.  It was the Wings Over Whiteman Air Show at the Whiteman Air Force Base which is located about 1 hour from our house.  This air force base is an active base and is the home to all B2 Bombers and many of the A-10 Thunderbolt fighter jets among other things.  We have the privilege of seeing the jets and B2 fly over our home quite often and all of us run outside to see if we can find them in the sky.  So to see them all up close was awesome for all four of us!

The gates of the base opened at 9am on Sunday and we were there promptly at 9:15am.  (and just to jump ahead a bit, we didn't leave there until 5:30pm.)  It was a long, but very fun day for all of us.

We saw many different jets and cargo planes; we saw new and old airplanes; we saw helicopters; we saw the Golden Knight parachute jumpers and we saw the B2 and Thunderbirds.  The boys did a-a-amazing the entire day!  There were a lot of static displays to look at, tons of people to watch, and they even got little foam basketballs from one of the vendors there.  That made their day because if you know them, a day is not complete if we don't get to play some sort of sport.  And those little basketballs kept them occupied during some down time that we had... so thank you to the man that rolled them the balls as we were walking by!

Now, I say that we had an amazing time, and we did, and we will definitely go next year if they have it; however, there was one downside to it.  And that would be that Ethan had a rough time with some of the bigger/faster jets as they would fly by and then turn in such a way that their engines were facing us, making the noise even louder.  We had ear plugs for all of us, but that just wasn't enough for him.  And when the Thunderbirds did their demonstration at the end of the show, Ethan was ready to go about three-quarters of the way through.  It wasn't until they did some fly by with 5 of the jets -- a really cool trick so everyone was watching them as they went by and then low and behold the 6th jet came by at top speed and scared the living daylights out of everyone in the crowd!  That one even made Trevor cry - and it shook Ethan's insides so much that he was ready to go right then and there.  We didn't leave right then and there, but when the Thunderbirds were done, Ethan was breathing a sigh of relief. 

Thank you boys for being so well behaved and we can't wait to go again next year!   Trevor, we hope you remember your 4th birthday for a very long time.  And if you happen to forget some of it, here are some pictures to remind you of what you did on that special day when you became a 4 year old.

This is one of the craziest aircrafts... the B2.  They had the various versions of it at the show and it was just amazing to see how it has evolved from what it was in the 50's to what it is today...

We had lots of time for smiles, giggles, and some not so happy faces as well throughout the day, but looking back at all these faces makes me remember what fun we had.  (And the one with Ethan doubled over in the chair looking at the ground was after that dreaded Thunderbird flyby that scared us all!)

What the pilots of these planes can do is so fun to see!  Just makes you sit in awe when you see them doing what they do best!

And then there were the impressive Thunderbirds.  If you wanted to see them perform you had to wait through the entire show, but it was well worth the wait! 

And you'll see some pictures that are of something other than the planes... these were taken jokingly after I mentioned to Rick, "Well, isn't that just every girl's dream man... tall, dark, handsome AND a uniformed fighter jet pilot!"  And being that they were setting stuff up for the show only about 10 feet from where we were sitting, I had ample time and opportunity to see these nice, uniformed men (oh, and there were a few women as well.  It was a tough job, but I'm glad I got a couple pictures for all of you to see.

Rick writing here -- And just so everyone knows...While Angie was taking the photos of the, as she puts it, "men in uniform", I had to keep her from singing, "You've lost that loving feeling...Ohhh, that loving feeling..."  I'm surprised she didn't start calling me Maverick or Goose.

And these were just some of the other random pictures from the day....

These last two are two of my favorite plane pictures from the day

And I can't forget to tell you about when we got home.  Trevor was just beat by the end of the day... both boys fell asleep soon after we started the drive home, but one difference was that Ethan eventually woke up.  Trevor on the other hand, slept and slept and slept.  We arrived home and since Trevor didn't have a Pull-up on I took him out of the van and went straight to the bathroom with him.  He sat on the toilet, went potty, but never woke up.  I laid him on the couch while we unpacked the rest of the van... he never woke up.  After we were all in the house, Kelty was excited to see all of us and even gave Trevor kisses on his cheek.   He never woke up.  Being that it was 6:30pm I decided I was going to put his pjs on and see if he wanted some birthday cake.  I laid him on his bed, took off his shorts and undies, put on a pull-up and his pj pants and the poor kid never woke up.  At that point, I said, you can just sleep in your tank top tonight, and I put him on his pillow.  He never moved.  Until 6:30am the next morning...

Celebrating My Birthday

Oh my --- I don't even know where to start.  My birthday this year - I turned 4!!  I was so excited.  Whenever anyone asked me how old I was before my birthday, I would say, "I'm 3, and I'm almost turning 4!"  I had to let them know that I was almost four and not just a little 3 year old.  But then my birthday got closer and closer.  Mom started asking me what kind of cake I wanted - I told her Iron Man or Thomas, but I don't think she liked those answers because she kept asking me what kind I wanted.  Almost like she wanted me to say, "I don't want a cake, Mom."  But she came up with a cool idea of making a #4 cake.  I was so exited to be 4, so I thought that was a pretty cool idea to have a whole #4 all for myself on my birthday. 

During the week, we had some boxes come from the mailman.  They had MY name on them!  And they were BIG boxes.  Mom let me look inside but didn't let me touch.  She set the boxes in the dining room and made me stare at them every day, all week long, but wouldn't let me open them.  Man... that was tough.  I just wanted to see what was in there!  But on Saturday, she finally told me that I was going to get to open some of them that night, and that I could even help her make the cake while Daddy was at work.    So that's what we did.  We made the cake, we made the frosting and it was yummy!  I didn't want to, but Mom made me share the beaters with my brother, Ethan.  I thought I should get all the yummy stuff since it was MY birthday, but my mom said I should just be glad that I got to like off one of the beaters!

After we went to church on Saturday, we got to go home and open presents and eat my cake.  I had such a hard time sitting through mass... all I wanted to do was go home and open those presents that were in the dining room all week!!  But I made it.  We got home, ate dinner, had a visitor surprise me with a special gift (thank you Allee, Pierce and Miss Amy... it was a wonderful surprise), and then they finally sang Happy Birthday to me so I could blow out the candles and eat the cake!!  Yummy!  Then it was present time.  but I didn't get to open all of them since it wasn't my birthday quite yet.  Mom said that we would open some Saturday night and then some others on Sunday night after we got back from the air show.  Yeah... an air show.  That's what we were going to do ON my birthday day.... how cool is that.  I was so excited to see all the neat planes.   But I think I'll let my mom tell you about that day because it was a LONG LONG day.  I was so tired that night.

But here are some of my presents...

I got some really cool stuff this year -- I must be getting bigger that I get the cool stuff like my brother gets.  I got a Leapster game, a remote control car, some more Trios so I can build a gigantic tower, a piano that makes some weird sounds (my mom likes it when I use the headphones so she doesn't have to listen to all the neat sounds), some Pixos and some sport clothes!  It was really fun opening my presents.  Thank you for all the neat stuff.

After playing with some of my toys it was time for bed so that we could get up early and go to the air show!  My birthday party was lots of fun and I can't wait til I turn 5... but for now, I really like telling people I'm 4.

4 Years and 1 Day

4 years and 1 day ago...

Trevor was born and blessed our family.

You might say, why 4 years and 1 day ago...well, you see, we were gone all day yesterday to the Whiteman Air Force Base to see an air show (that post will hopefully come out later today), and this slacking mom didn't pre-date a post so that it would go out on her son's actual birth day.  So, it's 4 years and 1 day ago today that I held my second bundle of joy in my arms for the very first time. 

I can't believe that it's been that long already.  I know I always say he's grown so fast, but it's even more so this past year.  Of recent, he's taken some different things ... things that make me realize he's getting older.  He loves to color and do dot-to-dots.  He waits to go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and enjoys doing matching type activities in workbooks.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to classify him as a book-worm type, yet.  He still loves to play sports with his older brother.  He loves to play cars.  He loves to paint.  He loves to get outside and ride his bike like a "speed racer".  He's all boy and fills the younger brother role to a tee!  He torments his older brother.  He gets in his older brother's face when at all possible.  And he knows how to do things (wrong, sassy things) and not get caught!

But he really is a wonderful little boy - minus the normal 3 or 4 year old stuff.  He is loving.  He is kind.  He's compassionate towards others, especially little babies and animals.  He makes us laugh multiple times a day.  He's a great little brother and looks up to his older brother oh so much!   And he makes us realize that miracles really do happen. 

We love you Trevor and hope you have an amazing year as a 4 year old!!

Now, here are some of Trevor's Favorites

(according to him on the particular day I asked him.  I can't promise that these answers would be the same today if I asked him, but hey, he had fun giving his answers...)

Favorite Color:

Purple, blue, yellow, green... but GREEN is my favorite

Favorite Animal:

Hippopotamus

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor:

Raspberry

Friends you play with:

Jake, Mia, Marley, Pierce

Favorite Thing about Being 3:

That I'm gonna be 4

Favorite Thing to do Outside:

Play biking with Ethan

Favorite Thing to do Inside:

Play soccer upstairs with Ethan

Favorite Song:

The Dinosaur Song - the one that goes, "The dinosaurs go marching, marching..."

Favorite Thing About Birthdays:

That there are presents in big boxes

Favorite Thing to do with Daddy:

Stay home with him

Favorite Thing to do with Mom:

Going to the dump

(I guess that's what I get when I take him there 7 times in one day with loads of tree branches and try to make it fun)

Favorite Food:

Froot Loops, honey and peanut butter sandwiches

Favorite Sport:

Basketball

Favorite Thing we did this Summer:

Liked being outside

Favorite Thing to do at School:

I clean up really fast with my new shoes on

What is something else you want everyone to know:

That I like to play football and I like going to school.

There you have it.  That's Trevor in a minute on his 4th birthday!

YAY!!!!  I'm 4!!!!!!

You can find him doing this with his cars quite often...

What's Wrong with Me??

So, every time I sit down to crank out a post about one thing or another (mainly having to do with the kids, of course), I just can't do it.  I get distracted and I don't have the desire to do it, and therefore, it doesn't get done.  What's wrong with me?  Any of you other long-time bloggers go through streaks like this??  How do I get out of the funk?   Not that it's a bad thing - because I'm not sitting at the computer as long most times, however, when I do sit here and finally get off of it, I don't have anything to show for it.... no cute pictures for everyone to see.  No silly stories documented that I would have otherwise forgot about.  Nothing to show for it but wasted time goofing around on-line.  That part of it I don't like.   And I also know that when I do finally come out of this "I don't want to blog fog" I will have a massive amount of posts that I want to catch up on and then I'll be frustrated because it'll take me forever and a day to catch up again.

Give me some hints.  Tell me this is normal in the blogging world and it's not just that I don't want to write about my kids and all the funny, silly, amazing things they do.

Trevor's 1st Day of School - 2010

Since Ethan started school on August 17th, Trevor has been asking each and every day, "Is it time for my school yet?"  For the last 3 weeks I have been saying, "No, not yet Trevor.  In a few more days."  Well, the day finally came.  We made sure this weekend that he knew on Tuesday, it was going to be his day to start school.  He has been so excited!!  And today that tune didn't change.  He had his back pack ready... and was off to school without a hitch.  But before he could go, he wanted pictures taken just like Ethan had done on his first day of school. 

So without further jabbering on about how proud I am of Trevor and how much he's grown over the summer or how much I'm going to miss him the 6 hours he's gone each week or how I can't wait to see what he learns this year.... here is my BABY going off to his first day of ECE (Early Childhood Enrichment) at the Methodist Church in town.  Oh and how did I almost forget this - he gets to be in the "big kid" class upstairs this year!  That makes going to school even more exciting!!

Good luck, Trevor.  Use your manners. Be nice to your friends.  Listen to your teachers. And most of all, Have Fun in school!!  I'll be waiting for you after class...

Just Dad

Just Dad being silly!   These "things" that he's wearing are boas that the kids have in their dress-up bin.  The boys thought it was hilarious that they could be worn the way Rick decided to wear them.  They go great with his shorts, don't you think? 

and even though this 2nd picture is almost identical to the first, I had to post it... just look at Ethan and his "divo" pose!   Man I wish I would have had him totally in the picture - that one could have been a definite, "I'll show your girlfriend " picture when he gets older!!

Last Weekend of Summer

This is a bit late in getting on here, but I want to catch up from the remainder of our summer pictures so I'm going to post some older things today, tomorrow and this weekend.

The end of our summer was excruciatingly hot.  Not just a little warm/humid, but HOT!!  The weekend before school started though, we had a minor reprieve.  It was bearable to be outside some place other than a pool, and we took advantage of that!  On Sunday we went golfing... something we hadn't done since about the beginning of July!  The kids were ecstatic and it was a fun time had by all.  However, by the end, Trevor was wiped as you'll see by the last picture. 

Later that day we had Ethan's back to school party at the Aquatic Center in town.  He had a blast seeing all his old classmates and friend and we barely talked to him the whole two hours we were there. 

Making the long trek up the steps to the slide...

Really?  Am I going to go down this thing?? 

Yep... I did it!  Turned over in the slide cuz it was so fast, but I DID IT!!  Again, and again, and again!

Allie, Ethan and James having fun!

And since we knew that time is running out, we decided to hit the pool again the following weekend.  The pool is only open til Labor Day so we better get all the pool time in while we can!   Rick even joined us this time...

Ethan getting ready for his jumps off the diving board.  We started the summer with a life jacket on all the time.  Then it was taken off in the shallow end and now... as you can see even off the diving board he is without a life jacket.  Crazy what a summer at the pool will do!

Trevor watching the diving show being put on by Dad and Ethan. He was trying to give Daddy some lessons on how to do a "pencil jump".  "You jump up high and then come down straight like this, Daddy!  See how my finger is.  That's a pencil jump."

He got the pencil jump down.....

But the front flip didn't go quite as well... Guess Trevor's directions were not quite as clear on this one.

And when all else fails, you do a Cannon Ball... Everyone can do those!

It was a fun time had by all, even mom (even though I'm not in any of these pictures). 

A Reminder for Busy Parents

Earlier today, I sent out this email below to some others, but then realized I should have just put it on my blog so that whenever I look at my blog this will be a reminder of what I was thinking on this particular day and should be thinking every day.  So, if you did get the email, you can just skip over this post.

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Recently, I came across a blog that was connected to my friend Melanie's, and I have been following it for about a month or so. This particular blog is sad. The woman writing the blog recently lost her little girl in a drowning accident. The little girl fell in a canal, was swept away and found about a mile or two down the canal by a farmer. She was alive when they reached her and spent some time at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, the trauma was too much for this little angel and she went to Heaven.

The post that I am linking you to below has a video at the bottom of it. It hit home for me so I thought I would share it with all of you busy parents. It hit home for me as I remembered telling Ethan the previous day, "hurry up, get your shoes on", "come on, let's get dressed. you have to go to school!", "Get in, buckle up. Stop messin' around". and then later I told Trevor, "Hurry and get your shoes... we have to go get Ethan from school." Why are always in such a hurry! Is it lack of planning? Is it that things these days just go a million miles an hour? Is it that we've forgotten the days of snail mail and everything has to be in fast-forward mode now? what is it? Seriously. I play with my kids a lot, but there are so many times during the day when I am rushing them, when I am telling them to do something rather than helping them achieve what it is they should be achieving. It's time to slow down and realize that our kids don't need to rush. They are innocent yet to the "fast ways" of the world. They are still children. They still like to stop and pick up rocks on a walk. They still like to push the car along the floor on their way to get their pjs on. They're not being bad. They're not being defiant. They're being kids!

So, take a look at the video. Hopefully it'll make you stop and think like it did to me and your kids will get to be kids just a wee-bit longer because of it.

Love you all -
Angie
Don't be rushed video...
http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/2010/08/is-there-anything-you-would-have-done.html

can they be any more ALIKE??

Thought I would follow up my "Can we be more different" post with this one.  One that shows Trevor really does belong in this family.  He just happens to look A LOT like his Daddy rather than his Mom. 

And I had to put the full picture in here because I just giggle to myself when I see the two of them together in a photo. 

Can you say.... Carbon. Copies. Of. Each. Other.