The view from here...

I am currently in the middle of a three week vacation(OK it's really one but it's arranged like three), can I say how glorious it is! I am loving it and a permanent vacation sounds right up my alley!
We've been into some serious bike riding at our place! We have gotten into a regime of riding our bike to the gym, swimming for a few hours and then riding back home. A few days ago we spiced it up and rode to a carnival that was in town! Buddy has become such a fantastic button pusher for the cross walk that this week I've left him twice at the walk by accident, pedaling my heart away while he's screaming "MOM, MOM, MOM"! Let's just say I have Mother of the Year in the bag! In other news Buddy informed me that "dad has two wives", the other wife being Kevin's mom, maybe I should inform her of her sister wife status and we could start making our own clothes together and we could match, that might be cute?
So for now a very fantastic vacation-y day!

Skiing?

Buddy wanted to go skiing today. I informed him there was no snow, so that wouldn't be on our agenda today. Instead I got a "no mom, the kind of skiing you do on the ground". Then he took me to his room to show me his skis, who knew I had such an elitist kid, maybe his name should have been Blaine or something. So here is Buddy in his skis...

Buddy has had two sets of cousins sleep over for the last two nights, today he went swimming with Tyler and Elizabeth. Needless to say we are pooped. OK, Buddy keeps insisting he's not, but I'll say otherwise! Hopefully we'll have some good sleeping in since this morning I was awakened by someone asking if I was awake every 10 minutes (nope not Buddy, he was sleeping peacefully beside me) starting at 7:30 this morning.
So all in all a super fantastic, need to rest now day!

Blessed...

I am so thankful to have this little guy in my life...



He is such a sweet, kind, happy go lucky and lovable guy! Even the sheep seems to think so...

And if nothing else, he's always good for a laugh!

(I'm not sure what it is about those goggles, but Buddy frequently wears them around the house, maybe this is his super hero hideout and he's just being prepared for when the call comes through)
All in all a super fantastic, hanging with cousins, cousins, and more cousins, day!

Buddy's guide to summer fun....

Here are some helpful tips to make the most out of summer:
First bugs are everywhere, the sooner you get used to that fact, the more you can feel at one with them...

Next up, constipation is a real downer, getting a thorough cleansing weekly should really help!

Third, if your mom is really sore from hiking yesterday and walks so slow that you're the last off the train, the engineer may show you how to drive it (horn blowing included)...

Lastly, when you see a train, try to really enjoy it, which usually means climb aboard whether you're suppose to or not!



By the way, you definitely get bonus points if you can talk a cousin into spending the night, bonus points to your mother for talking you into believing that water guns are just as fun without the water...

All in all a very super fantastic, hanging with Damian and trains, what could be better, day!

Attack of the crazy face...

So this morning we went hiking up to Timpanogos cave with some of Shane's family that are visiting this week from Seattle. When I got dressed this morning Buddy told me that I looked quite "fetching" but I needed to button up my shirt more and cover my boobs. Hmmm, sounds like Buddy has been hanging out with my mother a bit, that or he has been newly inducted in the modesty police (could be possible, we do live in Utah, and my dad is a Bishop). Just so you know I did try to button said shirt to accommodate his sweet little request, but the button holes were fake, how do you like that?
So Buddy wanted to let everyone know that we got stuck in an avalanche, actually it was a rock fall and we had to run to the side of the cliff to protect our noggins. I do believe mother nature was showing off for my boy a bit since he has basically told every person we could think of about our near death experience and he wants to do the hike every day this summer to see if we can get a repeat performance!
So Buddy, my muse, was posing for some pictures today, I think he was spot on for the attack of the Killer Tree (Part II mind you since we did the same pose last year), but the rest of the pictures he just looks a little.... Oh well, we'll put off our Sears Catalog model contract one more year!





All in all a super fantastic, get to hang out with your cousin kind of day!

A few good men...

The other day I went to go pick up Buddy from my parents house. I could hear giggling in the backyard and the lawn mower going, which confused me since my parents were sitting under the shade of the patio drinking lemonade. The giggling again, and there is my cute, little 5 year old pushing the lawn mower (that is actually running) and making patterns in my parents lawn. Hmmm, DCFS please don't come and get me! He thought it was great fun, made me remember mowing the lawn for the same set of parents, it only took me once though to figure out lawn mowing wasn't quite the fun it looked like it should be.
So I've been sick for a few days now, and today is the first day I've actually ventured out of the house, so here are a few things the boys have done without me...
Yesterday the rodeo, Buddy of course wore his cowboy getup and we are looking for an available slot on any local rodeo for the mutton bustin', I think Buddy has found his new calling in life...

That's a dollar another kid gave Buddy after the cow chase, never heard of such a thing. They paste money to some calves and send all the kids out to get some cash, sounds dangerous, but then again I let my 5 year old mow my parents lawn, so who am I to judge?
So today while the boys were practicing Buddy's bike riding abilities, they decided to take the boat for a spin...


I think I have an inkling of what will be on both the boy's wish list very soon....

The nice old man that was driving that gave Buddy a run down of how his boat works, not to be outdone, Buddy gave him a run down of his glorious Toy's R Us special!!!
So for now,a very super fantastic day with my very good men (or at least in training)!

Hostage....

When holding someone hostage there a few important rules, first make sure you have adequate transportation so you can make a clean get away!

Make sure to bring weapons in case your hostage becomes hostile...

Lastly, be sure to hold on tight, you can never be sure when they'll try to make their escape...

All in all a super fantastic, feeling like jumping for joy day!

Art Connoisseur....

In the mail today we received some art that Shane bought online. Buddy and I were excited to open it, after peeling back it's many layers of protective wrap Buddy declared the piece "a disaster"...

The beginnings of an art aficionado in the making I do believe! In other news, today was Buddy's preschool graduation, for weeks I've been talking up the cap and gown because someone believes gowns are for girls. We never quite made it to graduation, we were doing quite a lot of this...

Because of nasty old this...

This morning it had just started looking a little pink, so I jumped into nurse mode and started teaching Buddy about pink eye. Sadly I showed him some pictures, which just made him cry and say that he was afraid that his eye was going to now fall out ( mother of the year I say)-of course that fear isn't helping him take his eye drops any easier! At least we have a new secret weapon from my last trip to Anthropologie...


By the way if you ever want to feel good about yourself, take him as a shopping partner. Everything I tried on was deemed absolutely beautiful by him! Of course I spent way too much, but according to Buddy I am worth it!
So for now a super itchy eye kind of day!

Pajama Party...

Shane left this morning for work, so last night while we were reading in Buddy's bed we decided to stay in his bed and talk for a while with the lights out. Buddy was so excited, snuggled between us, pulling us around the neck to himself. He kept calling it a family pajama party and kissing us on the face. It only took an extra hour for him to contain his excitement and finally fall asleep. Since Shane left this morning, we decided to treat ourselves and go to Lagoon. It was quite the treat! Unfortunately, I had a work meeting that we had to interrupt our fun and go to, but on the way I bought a little Cowboy and Indians play set so he would have something to entertain himself (I should have gotten something to entertain myself while I was at it). He liked it so much he decided to add a few things the manufacturer forgot to put in. Those things would be a Thomas the train and a few Hot Wheels cars. So for now Buddy has brought peace to the land by giving them all train rides and encouraging patience, maybe the middle east just needs more rail lines? I think Buddy may be onto something...

All in all a super fantastic train riding day!

Addictions....

Thank goodness for some one's addiction to the computer and the search for the greatest deal, not only are we now new owners of some Japanese Modern Art (ummm, yay!? pictures to follow when it arrives, I know you're excited), but we have the largest flashlight collection this side of the Mississippi and Buddy can now rock out like the cool cat that he is!

Today we have been privileged to some table dances, accompanied by some singing that would make any deaf momma proud!
In other news, I worked last night, so I think the boys are having some sympathy rest for me...

Thanks for always having my back boys!
So all in all a super fantastic day!

The boys are back in town...

Doublemint Twins...

Did you know everything is better in two's?




That is unless you only have one ice cream cone...

All in all a super fantastic day!

Classically Awkward...

I have an old roommate from my freshman year at BYU named Sharla. I loved Sharla, she was hilarious, fun and quite the fashionista (for the early 90's anyway). Thank goodness for modern technology, mostly facebook which allows me some fantastic stalking privileges not only for her home page, but also her blog. Last Thursday she introduced me to a little of this: Awkwardfamilyphotos.com
Last night as I was talking to my husband on the phone, since he's out of town, we used 99% of our conversation not to whisper sweet nothings to each other or even to talk about our son. Instead we focused on more important things. Yep, the whole conversation basically was a bantering of the best pictures on the site. So I dedicate this blog to a wonderfully awkward family photo of me and my sister. Notice the classic hand holding, forlorn looks in our eyes and fantastically 80's outfits, we were rock stars...

Maybe there will be more awkwardness to follow.
So all in all a super fantastically awkward day!