Kid Quotes and other funnies

While Ezra was at the hospital recovering from his tonsillectomy, the nurse was standing nearby as he ate a popsicle. All of a sudden he said, "Stinkbomb!" The nurse said, "What does that mean?" He said, "I tooted. And it was a big one."

While Nolan was practicing the piano, I kept reminding him of the notes by saying, "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge." Well, when he was done, Ezra was concerned and said, "Mom, I thought Nolan deserved fudge!"

During the summer, the boys were spending too much time playing Minecraft. We set a rule that there would be no playing until 4 o'clock. Well one day, I dozed off around 1 o'clock while reading my book. When I woke up the clocks said 5:15. I couldn't believe it! It turns out that the boys had changed most of the clocks so that they could play their game. I was relieved to find that it was only 2:15. That would have been quite a nap!

The boys love playing with Clarice from next door. She knocked one day while we were eating dinner. She said she'd wait outside for them to finish. The boys were taking a long time to eat so I hurried them along so that Clarice wouldn't be waiting. Nolan said, "Don't worry. Clarice is a patient woman."

Ezra asked me, "Do you think someone could count to 100?" Well, I quickly counted all the way to 100 and then he said, "Wow, that is actually pretty boring!"

Lacey told me that Ezra told Rob, "You have a big, fat forehead!"

I was working on the computer and Nolan came up to me and said, "When I grow up I'm not going to let my wife blog." Clearly I was interrupting his minecraft time.

Nolan was telling me all about a minecraft mod that he wants to create. (It was very involved.) Then he thought for a moment and said, "If I make that mod then I might actually get a lot of girls, which would be a pain in the butt. I'm just not that into girls." I told him that that's good and he said, "Yeah, this isn't the age that I'm supposed to get a girlfriend."

Justin had a cold so I was sleeping downstairs. For some reason, I woke right up at 11:15 p.m. and thought I should check on the boys. It turns out that they weren't in their beds or anywhere in the house. Then I noticed that the front door was unlocked. I opened the door to find them on the porch, cuddling in a sleeping bag and watching a movie on the tablet. What little stinkers sneaking out before they are even teenagers! They said they were going to sleep on the grass but they saw lightning.

Ezra is not a breakfast person but I'm always offering him various cereal options. One day, he got frustrated and said, "Ugh! You always prefer me to have cereal!"

Ezra was watching Lucy and decided to give her a little snuggle. Then he turned to me and said, "Mom, thank you for having a baby!"

And just barely, Nolan was wondering who I was sending this to. I told him it was going on the blog and he said, "Oh no, you and your blogging!"

Loving September

 We've been enjoying the cool weather by taking walks, bike rides, and playing at the park. Lucy loves to climb up slides.
 Ez was looking pretty handsome.

For my Dad's birthday in August, I gave him two tickets to the Park City Home Show. It turns out that Lacey and I joined them and were able to see most of the amazing homes. It was so much fun! We got lots of ideas for the new cabin that my parents are building near Park City. We realized that we wanted to get planting some trees on the property, so over Labor Day weekend we headed up to plant 5 pine trees and 5 quaking aspens. Lacey's family came, too. It was pretty hard work, but the kids enjoyed being outside and we lucked out that it wasn't raining. Our trusty old truck did a great job hauling the trees up there.

 Ezra finally started preschool! This is his 3rd year of preschool and he is with Miss Marissa. He couldn't choose between a person that draws blood or a surgeon. I told him that if he chooses surgeon then he can do both. He thought that was a pretty good deal.

 One night while Dad was out of town, I sent the boys to bed and left Lucy to play quietly in her room for a bit (she wasn't tired yet) while I talked to Justin on the phone. When I was done talking, this is what I found in my room: they can't resist cuddling and snuggling with Lucy!

 See what I mean?

 Grandpa John came up to help me with a big project. I've been totally changing up our living room and entryway, trying to make it feel more light, and less beige. We finally got new couches and a darling chair. The kids love it when Grandpa visits. He read Lucy the same little book over and over again because she just kept putting it in his hands and asking for more. She was so pleased.

Here's the entryway project. Justin was so nice to let me do whatever I wanted and my Dad was so great to do all this work. It turned out even better then I imagined! We had a good time working together, even though he did all the hard stuff.  

Before:

 During:

 After:

And here are a bunch of pictures that we've taken lately:

 Lucy does lots of standing around, but only takes about 3 or 4 steps at a time. She is just too fast (and super funny) at her monkey crawl.

 I'm realizing that I take lots of pictures of her while she is eating. I think that's when she gets the most silly. She does lots of faces and keeps us all entertained at the dinner table.

 She melts my heart with that smile!

 Her most favorite thing in the world is still shoes (other than her binky and blanket). She brings them to us and then sticks out her foot so that we'll put them on. Such a girl!

 She recently learned how to climb up onto the piano bench. She plays us lots of songs throughout the day.

 Justin is singing in the upcoming afternoon session of General Conference. He was beyond excited to be chosen from our ward and can't wait for the big day. There was a dress rehearsal at the conference center and families were welcome to come. We planned to drop by to hear the last 45 minutes. Well, wouldn't you know that an area of the freeway was closed and we ended up spending 30 minutes in stopped traffic. We got there just as they finished. We were sad that we didn't get to see Dad up in the choir seats and take pictures. Anyway, he went home to rest (he had a cold) and we headed to City Creek to eat at Red Iguana and play at the children's area. We had never been there before. Lucy was in heaven (and the boys were too, I suppose). It was hard to get good pictures of her because she was so busy crawling from one toy to another.

 And this is out of order, but earlier this month Justin had a fun outing with his friend, Jeremy, from work. They went on his 4-wheeler and motorcycle up the mountain near Stockton. He said it was a good time.

 Ezra being cute in my sun hat.

Justin is never happier than when he is cuddling with the kids (except when he's cuddling with me, of course, but I don't have a picture of that). They fill up his love tank! And of course Lucy is holding a beloved shoe.

 September flew by! Bring on Fall... the best time of the year!

Summer's End

Justin has been doing lots of traveling lately. He has had some pretty exciting trips, especially when he would help the marines get radios working on their helicopters. He was strapped in as they practiced their tactical missions, watching as they shot huge guns and big rockets. He always tells me about his helicopter rides AFTER he has already landed safely.

 While my family stayed in Park City, we went up for the day to have some fun. We left Lucy with Grandma Sherri and rode up the lift so that Dad and Nolan could go mountain biking down. There was some confusion about which lift Ezra and I could go on (we were just riding back down), so we didn't all get to ride together, but we still had a good time. Ez and I were on a date and he loved it! I even took him to get a caramel apple. It turns out Nolan had a crash on his bike and hurt his stomach pretty bad. It was bleeding but luckily Justin had some first aid stuff. Nolan was shaken up and went very slow the rest of the time. Justin will need to head up again on his own some time so that he can cover more ground. But Nolan was brave and it was still a fun day spent hanging out with cousins, too. Justin even let me take his bike from Park City down to the condo near Kimball Junction. What a great ride I had!

 Hanging out with Bryson.

The Ogden Temple open house made for a nice family outing. We planned to take the front runner train but missed it by about 2 minutes. In the end, riding in our own van was probably more relaxing, although you can imagine the boys' disappointment. We had a yummy lunch and then enjoyed our temple tour. 

 During the last week of summer break, I took the kids to Classic Skate. It turns out I should have been taking them there all summer long. They had a great time! Lucy gave the bounce houses a try and the boys had a good time in the jungle area. Then we went outside to the water area and that was a big hit! Nolan could do all the slides by himself. Ezra tried to go up the huge blow-up slide (this thing is massive!) but decided to come back out using the stairs. I don't blame him. I hadn't brought Lucy's swimsuit but I finally let her get in the water with her clothes on for just a little while. She was one happy little fish!

 Lucy wants to play dress-up with all kinds of things. She insisted that I help her put this pair of underwear on her head. She was so pleased!

That weekend, we managed to get Nolan a new bike (with gears, yay!) just in time for his first triathlon. It was a stunning evening filled with community spirit. Nolan swam down the length of the pool and back, biked 3.2 miles, and ran 1 mile. I got emotional watching all the kids jump in one-by-one as they started out the race, seeing all the support from loved ones. The swim was tough. At times it seemed like he was flailing his arms but hardly moving. But he stuck it out. He flew on his bike, of course, and then he was so happy as he crossed the finish line after the run. We couldn't have been prouder! A week later, we found out that he came in 4th place in his age group. What a champ!

 Lucy decided one day that she would just stand up in the middle of the room. She would stand up, balance for a while, and then plop down. What a surprise to turn around and see her standing! She was pretty happy when we all broke out in cheers and I ran for the camera.

 The night before school started, we headed to the lake for the free "paddle and play." You can try out paddle boards, pedal boats, and canoes. The Rignells came, too. It was the most beautiful night. I would have loved to stay on that paddle board for much longer! The boys and I decided we would try swimming in the lake but we couldn't decide who would get in first. Well Dad walked up behind us on the dock and pushed us all in! It all happened so fast that Ezra, the last one to be pushed in, was still caught by surprise! It was a nice swim though. It turns out the lake was quite warm.

Nolan was excited to start 2nd grade, especially because we are letting him ride to school and back on his bike. It has been wonderful to send him on his way without packing up all the kids. He met a new friend in his class, Spencer, that just moved from Las Vegas. They were instant friends and we were pleased to know he lives close enough that Nolan can ride his bike to his house to play. 

 Watching the neighbors' dogs... but getting sleepy.

Ezra was pretty bored once Nolan went off to school. Here he is doing a little science to keep himself busy. Most of the time he sits with Justin's tablet playing minecraft. The boys are addicted!