Buzzed

Dallin got a haircut yesterday ad I'm pretty sure this is the shortest it's been. My question to you is, Do you like it better short or long? Or somewhere in between?

New Brother!

My sister Cari is engaged! Her fiance, Alec Nethercott, proposed to her on Wednesday (and I was in on it!). Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures yet, but I will post them later when I get them. Congratulations Cari and Alec! We are so excited for you two. And I am excited to get another brother. :)

P.S. Cari came over yesterday to show us her ring and tell us about the proposal. She came up to Dallin, showed him her ring and said "Look Dallin!". Dallin looked at the ring, looked and Cari, and said "Um....What does that mean?" It was so funny. Cari said, "It means I'm getting married". "Ohhhh, okay" he said.

We Finally Got a Pet

As many of you know, Jason and I are really not 'pet people'. I hated cleaning up messes in the yard growing up, Jason was attacked by dogs on more than one occasion...we're just not big fans of any kind of pet. When we were dating and the subject came up, we were so relieved to find out that we shared the same views. And though my mom was worried that our kids wouldn't be able to learn responsibility :), I promised that they would; just not from taking care of pets.

However, we didn't choose to have a new pet, she chose us. We looked out the window one day (early April) and there was a duck, standing on our back lawn. I watched her walk over to our rosemary bush and jump in. How strange. The next day, Dallin and I were outside playing and he was putting his little yellow shovel in the bush and said he was looking for the duck. Sure enough, the duck flew out and scared us half to death.




We continued to see her almost every day last month. She seemed to really like our rosemary bush, and Jason and I joked that she was laying eggs back there. Dallin got the biggest kick out of our little 'pet', and I liked her too because I didn't have to feed her or clean up after her. We would see her walking around, flying in and out of the yard, and hopping in and out of the bushes. But then we stopped seeing her. In fact, we probably hadn't seen her in two weeks...

Until today, when I looked out the window and saw this. Instead of one pet, we now have TEN!

So Close!

Finally I caught a picture of Evie in crawling position. Today she actually moved both knees forward an inch or two, but her hands stayed put, so I can't really count it as crawling yet. The funniest thing about it is that she can't even sit up yet! (Dallin was 7 months when he learned to sit up, but exactly a week later he was crawling, so we'll see!)

Activity #2

Jason and Dallin on the lightrail

The boys in the Railroad Museum

Evie was a good girl in the museum

One of Dallin's favorite trains

The family in Old Town

So continuing with my resolution to be a better mom (and not wanting my kids to grow up to be couch potatoes), Jason and I took the kids to Old Town Sacramento on Saturday. We met up with our friends, the Tanners, and took the lightrail down there, which Dallin LOVED. I don't know if I've ever been on a lightrail myself, so I thought we could all try something new, and it ended up being really fun. Once we got downtown, we headed straight for the Railroad Museum, where I had been on a field trip as a kid. I'm not sure who was more excited about all the trains, Dallin or Jason. Evelyn was so good the entire trip, talking and babbling away. So Activity #2 was a big success, we'll see what we can come up with for next weekend!

Fun Project

Yesterday was one of those 'guilty mom' days where I felt bad for my kids because I don't do enough fun/creative activities with them. Some days I barely have enough energy to get them dressed and fed. So yesterday I remembered a book that my mom gave me with creative things for kids to do. So while Dallin was still taking his nap, I excitedly gathered up all my supplies to make a piggy bank. I found a can and cut a hole in the lid for the coins. Then I got crayons, paper, scissors, stickers and tape. When Dallin came downstairs and saw my little set-up he was soooo excited. Even though he kept trying to put the stickers on his hands and not the can, he did a great job and had some fun too. (I must admit, I had to try hard not to fix the stickers as he was putting them sideways, on top of each other and hanging off the edges. I reminded myself that this was HIS project :) I also cut out his picture and put it on there, along with the year. Anyway, the idea was that this could be his mission fund. Oh, and a shout out to Evie, who played on the floor and practiced crawling during our project.

Birthday

How nice that my kids were in such a good mood on my birthday. Really, that's all I wanted; no crying fits, diaper blowouts or waking up early from naps. I got my wish, and that made it a great day. :)