My Turn on Sweet Petes

So Tamsen volunteered me to write the blog this week, since evidently I have had a more interesting week than she? At any rate, here we go.

Let's start with Liv, who continues to grow up. She is getting into more, climbing onto more and doing more day by day. I had a short trip this week (left Thursday morning, came back Friday night) and in that time she went from doing about 20-30 steps to pretty much walking all the time, picking things up from the floor while standing etc. She's really growing up, but sweet as ever.

Tupperware-like stuff makes the best toys, really:

She started modeling, too, which is good:

Walking for her life:

Feelin' Groovy:

So that's Liv. I think because she's the baby, she gets all the press. As for everyone else:

• Tosh - got 'bumped up' in swimming lessons to the next class, because he's swimming well. We think it's his large hands and feet (plus the web toe) that really give him an advantage.



• Hewitt - continues to keep us entertained with his interesting comments, is going through a serious fear of bees phase, loved his swimming lessons.



• Burke - went to and loved Cub Scouts den meeting, read Captain Nobody, helped me with home teaching (my companion out of own).



• Tamsen - took kids to swimming lessons M-Th (feels like she's starting her carpool career), super-survived my biz trip by getting more done when I'm gone, mowed and edged the lawn yesterday, made yummy caramel corn for her YW lesson today. She's a good lady.



• Rob - went to Vegas on Thursday and Friday for work/training, had a great time with Kevin & Alisa. Not really loving the boot, but I guess it's good for me.

Intel rented out a place called Amazing Jake's yesterday evening for our summer party of sorts. We got a sitter for Liv and took the boys for bumper cars, rides, video games, waiting in line, etc.

The food was better than one might think for the type of establishment, and the kids had three self-serve, soft-serve ice cream cones each - a sweet and 'oh, why not, we never do anything like this' treat for them. Tamsen made the mistake of going on the tea cups after dinner, but other than that we had a great time.

This ride made us a bit crazy (but we still went on it 4-5 times):

Bumper-car Burke:

Tonka-truck Tosh:

That's all I got for this week, folks. Tamsen and I went swimming last night after the kids were down and were feeling pretty grateful to enjoy that convenience right in our backyard. Life is pretty darn good in AZ, even in late June.

We're looking forward to keeping our streak alive of at least one visitor in every month since December 2009 as Mike & Jana & family are coming next week. We still have openings in August and September for those that are interested...

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my dad, my father-in-law, and my husband. I love and appreciate these great men. You are the best!

This was an interesting week. For starters, Rob broke his foot playing basketball during his lunch break on Monday. He's been hurting and swollen all week.He is wearing a special boot now and is feeling a bit better. I was supposed to go to Girls Camp Friday morning-Saturday afternoon, but decided not to go as Rob really can't get around to take care of the little kids. Interestingly, the other leader that I was supposed to go up with wasn't able to go because her husband fell and ended up needing knee surgery on Friday! What are the chances that both of our husbands would have accidents the same week as camp? I guess that we just weren't supposed to go this year...

Rob actually had to travel to California for work on Wednesday. I was worried about him traveling on his broken foot, but he did okay. This week he will go to Las Vegas for a couple of days and is hoping to meet up with his sister and bro-in-law for dinner. He is liking his new job. It has been a good change although he certainly seems to be traveling a bit more.

With me not going to Girls Camp, we had grand plans for getting all sorts of things done around here this weekend. Unfortunately I ended up feeling really sick yesterday (I'm guessing it was just dehydration from too much time in the sun and heat on Friday, without enough water). I spent most of the day in bed sleeping, which meant that Rob was on his feet more than he should have been. We were both exhausted by the end of the night and our entire family was in bed by 7:50pm. I think that this was the first time in our entire marriage that both Rob and I were asleep before 8pm! We both feel much better today after getting 11 hours of sleep.

Here are a few things about the kids this week:

Burke had a blast taking apart our old DVD/VCR. He has been interested in doing all sorts of experiments and inventing new games to play with the family. His freestyle and backstroke are looking really good.

Relaxing on the porch after a swim:

This is a classic "I don't like what we are having for dinner" face:

Cute and silly brothers:

Hewitt is wanting to swim as much as he can. He is diving and floating, and is such a natural in the water. Diving Video:

Here are a few Hewitt Funnies from this week:

He was playing with some colored rings and pretended they were "Fruit Loops." He had all of us pick what flavor we wanted and explained, "Red is strawberry, orange is orange, yellow is banana, green is apple, and blue is water flavor."

Hewitt: "I am like a bee. I only hurt someone if they bother me first." (Said shortly after getting in trouble for pushing Tosh.)

Hewitt was playing with our Fisher Price (Little People) farm and asked, "Would it work if you prayed to be small?" (he was hoping to play inside the house.)

I happened to catch Hewitt "mooning" his sister on Thursday. Of course I started to freak out and tell him that he is never to do that, and it is not okay to show him bum to anyone... He calmly said, "It's okay Mom. It's a riddle: Who doesn't get mad or doesn't laugh when you show them your bum? The answer is Liv. See? It's a riddle. She didn't get mad or laugh!" When I told Rob this story later that night we both laughed about it for about several minutes. (We suspected that Burke was the one that came up with the riddle, but Burke insists that it was Hewitt.)

Tosh had a great week and I can't believe how well he is swimming now. He can tread water, and swim across the pool, coming up for air when needed. It is so fun to watch him learn new things every day (he and Hewitt have two more weeks of lessons). Tosh was really cute about Rob's foot being broken and keeps asking him if his "owie is better now." The other night when I was getting Tosh in bed and helping him with his prayers he said, "Wait! We didn't bless Daddy's leg to get better!"

Tosh using a slingshot as a headband:

Awesome swimming:




Liv is getting really funny and is all over the place. Her favorite thing is to try to climb up on everything. She is talking more and her current words are: Mama, more, uh-oh, Dada, Bun-bun (bunny), hi and bye. I went into nursery today so I could help Rob and so he could go to Priesthood meeting, and it was fun to see her playing with the older kids and acting like a big girl.

Here is a photo series that I like to call "The Climber:"

I think a close-up is needed on this hilarious face!

She climbed up on the piano bench to play for a bit too:

Other random pics:

This one made me laugh because it is classic of what my boys often look like/do when I try to take pictures of them (Sleepy, Goofy, and Grumpy):

Happier here with Rob (and aforementioned boot):

Livvy looking out the window (cute lips):

And love these in black and white:

this week

This week seemed BUSY! I'll share some highlights:

Burke completed the Bobcat Trail for Cub Scouts, and received lots of awards at Pack Meeting.


His favorite part was when they turned him upside down as part of the initiation:

The boys are doing swimming lessons Monday-Thursday this entire month. It's made for very busy mornings since the classes are back to back to back (each boy in a different class). The kids are doing great and I can't believe the difference in Tosh especially (see last post for a cute swimming video).

The weather was cooler this weekend, and we all enjoyed a family bike ride on Saturday morning (temps in the 70s!). The weather was awesome. It was in the high 80's, low 90's on Friday afternoon and Burke was complaining that it was "too cold" to go swimming. Ha!

Here are some random pics from this week:

Hewitt mid-cartwheel

I gave Tosh's hair a little trim (it looks sort of "Mom-ish" here):

Liv is taking more and more steps and is starting to climb up on everything! Today was the first day that I had her go into the nursery at church (only because Rob is the nursery leader, and because I gave a lesson in Young Women). We have packed up the highchair because she kept climbing out of it. She is such a funny girl, and wouldn't you know that she LOVES broccoli (you can see some on her face in this photo):

(Blue lips in this last one thanks to a sucker that Tosh found and gave to her. Thanks, Tosh.)

I felt so productive this week, and got to all sorts of projects that I don't get around to as much as I'd like, such as closet/room organization and ironing (I generally iron on an as-needed basis instead of ironing everything that needs it at once). I changed some dressers around in the kids' rooms, and we moved a couch into our play room. I also spent the majority of one afternoon sewing on scout patches and bruised my thumb and index finger in the process. Those patches are tough! I can't get over the fact that I feel like I am constantly doing something, and yet there is always so much to do. We had a some couples over for a game night last night, and that was really fun.

And finally, a quick snapshot of the four kiddos (and Bear and Bunny) before church today:

special edition: swimming!

Tosh cried for about 10 mintutes on the first day of swimming lessons... A few days later, and we're having a hard time getting him out of the pool!

A video of our little fish:

school's out for summer!

Summer break is officially here and we've already hit temps up to 110. No worries though, it just means lots of swimming and sunscreen. We had such a great Memorial Day last Monday. We went swimming with Grandma and Grandpa Pete (twice), played some board games, took an afternoon nap, grilled steak on the BBQ for dinner, and mostly just relaxed. I bought myself (woops, I mean the KIDS got me) an inflatable pool lounge thing for Mother's Day, and I love it! Tosh was floating around with me and actually fell sound asleep so I hung out in a shady part of the pool with him so he could nap for a bit.

We loved having Grandma and Grandpa Pete here!

The boys have been coming up with all sorts of pool games that they like.

The boys all started swimming lessons today (three different classes). It will certainly keep us busy this month. Liv is getting more and more comfy in the water too. She loves being outside and will cry if someone goes outside and leaves her in! We usually just swim in the morning or evening since it is getting so hot during the day.

Thursday was my birthday. I must admit, I started the day fairly grumpy (just ask Rob), but it turned out to be a good day. I've been wanting a new camera for a long time and just got one for my birthday! I don't really know how to use it yet, but it's exciting none the less. Rob took the very first photo: So this is what 35 looks like (hopefully my hair doesn't usually look this messy). I'm not sure why my hand looks so transparent in this photo. Weird.

Liv has been trying to walk quite a bit, and fell down once and hit her little cheek on a wooden train track. It made for a purple little goose egg that turned into a black eye/cheek. She is getting really funny and more dramatic. She definitely knows what she wants and lets you know about it.

Hewitt was the most cooperative this weekend about letting me try out my new camera on him. He's such a good sport. We found out on Tuesday that Hewitt was able to transfer to the same school where Burke will be going. I really wanted them in the same school, so that was a big relief. Hewie had kindergarten testing on Friday, and was so disappointed that he didn't get to stay for school. This kid is SO ready for school and can't wait to go. He was really cute when he came out of the test and very humbly and matter-of-factly said, "I knew everything! I only counted up to 44, but told the teacher that I could go up to 900."

Hewitt is excited that his hair is long enough to "spike" again.

Burke had a great week. Not only did he have all sorts of fun things going on for the last couple days of school (water day, getting the "Math Award," a pretend camp-out with flashlights and Happy Meals from McDonald's with his class, etc.), but he got to go to CUB SCOUT DAY CAMP! Day Camp was Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 1:30PM to about 10:00PM (getting home around 10:20 a couple of nights)! It was so weird to have Burke home during the day and out late at night. He seriously had the time of his life and can't wait to go back next year. I think that he looks so cute in his camp "uniform." Could his shirt be any bigger?

That about sums it up. Now back to laundry, dishes and other chores. Happy June!