Tent Rocks National Monument

Today we took the kids hiking in Tent Rocks National Monument. William and Hyrum did awesome making it the whole 3 miles (ok, maybe they had a few shoulder rides from daddy). The view from the top was incredible and well worth the climb. Once we made it past all the steep parts on the way down, the boys had fun racing down the trail back to the van. It made going down much faster than the trip up. It's always so rewarding to spend quality time together as a family, especially when it involves enjoying our beautiful surroundings.

18 Months

Thomas is now 18 months old. He is quickly turning into a little toddler, not only in the way he looks, but also in the way he acts. He is realizing that he can do what his brothers do and I often find him right in the middle of all their action together. He is still my sweet little Tommy, though, snuggling on my shoulder for comfort, kissing my cheeks at night and giving me hugs to say "sorry." His smiles always bring me great joy and brighten me up when I'm feeling down. He continues to be my little angel. Here's what he's up to these days.

Thomas...

• can say "ba" (ball), "mommee," "daddee," "hy" (Hyrum), "mo" (more), "pe" (please), "teet" (treat), "um" (I want some of that), "me" (milk) and "hu hu hu" (dog)


• runs around the house chasing his big brothers


• loves to laugh- he even does silly things just so he can laugh at himself


• uses a spoon and fork to eat


• pushes chairs around so he can climb on them to reach things (way too young to have learned this already)


• loves to suck on toothpaste bottles (with the lid on of course) and chew on toothbrushes


• plays peek-a-boo in the kitchen curtains


• screams...when he's happy, when he's sad, when he's mad, to get my attention, to fit in with his brothers...pretty much for any and all reasons


• plays with purses and anything with a strap that he can put over his shoulder


• is great at putting things back into whatever container they came out of (ie toys and spilled snacks)


• has a smile that melts my heart and a cheesy grin that makes me giggle

Daddy Date #2

Last night was Hyrum's turn to go out on a date with daddy. Since he and William do almost everything alike, it was only natural that he chose to have dinner at McDonald's (he wanted the same happy meal toy as William). After eating dinner and playing in the play area for awhile they ventured over to the dollar store where Hyrum picked out a rocket blast off toy. Oh, the simple joys of being a child. The best part is that Dave, having a little boy still inside of him, has just as much fun! I can't wait until my turn to take the boys out next month...

Absorbing Artwork

Here's a fun and simple craft project I did with the boys this morning to help pass the time unil Daddy got home from work. Hyrum and William thought it was "magic" how the colors moved along the glue.



Absorbing Artwork (familyfun.go.com)

Materials:

• card stock
• white glue
• salt
• cookie sheet
• eye dropper
• colored water (We mixed 5 drops of food coloring into 1 Tbsp of water. We also used only primary colors so that the kids could learn about mixing colors.)

Instructions:

1. Set card stock on cookie sheet and have child draw picture/designs with glue.
2. Sprinkle wet glue with salt until it is completely covered (don't skimp on the salt, if you don't have enough the colored water won't travel along the glue), then tap off excess.
3. Have child use dropper to drip colored water, one drop at a time, onto the salt. As the salt absorbs the liquid, the water will move along the glue lines. Be sure to watch what happens when the color reaches intersecting lines.

Daddy Date

Tonight Dave took William out on his first "Daddy date". This is something Dave and I have wanted to do for awhile now, but just haven't made it a priority until now. Before Dave got home from work I told William that he would get to ride in daddy's truck. He immediately lit up and ws so happy he almost started crying. It was probably one of the sweetest moments I have had as a mother, to see him so genuinely excited. A little bit later as we were putting his shoes on he got really calm and said, "I'm really going to miss you." Moments like these make all the hard times SO worth it!

Dave let William decide what they'd do on their date and William chose to eat dinner at McDonald's (the one with a play area, of course). Afterwards Dave took him to Ace Hardware for a little more "man-to-boy" bonding. When they got home William walked in the door carrying his happy meal box while grinning from ear to ear. It was so cute. Here's a picture of one happy boy and one proud daddy.

Happy Valentine's Day

Since the boys weren't too excited about making valentine's to mail out this year, this is our attempt to tell you all that we love you. Have a great day!

Sun Catcher

With freezing (and below) temperatures last week, the boys and I thought it would be fun to do a little winter craft project. We found this idea on familyfun.go.com. The boys are facinated with ice lately so it was fun for them to make the colored water and watch it freeze into ice cubes. Seeing the sun catcher hanging in our tree helped brighten up the cold and dreary days.