We never really fell off the face of the earth, you know. I just took a long hiatus from posting. You know how life gets. Our computer died in February and it took us some time before we decided we would just have to replace it (and we lost a lot of information on the hard drive - back up! always back up!). That was part of the problem. Then I misplaced the usb cable for our camera and so was unable to download the pictures on our camera. Rats. So, here I am now, just deciding to get back to blogging now that we have a new computer, I found the cable for the camera, and I just happen to have a few minutes on this rainy Saturday evening.
Let's see - to briefly summarize the last eight months or so, Zak worked, the kids played, grew, were sick, were healthy, were happy, were grumpy, and I was there, too. We had a fun summer with Zak off work. No big trips anywhere, but we really enjoyed our little daytime activities and just the chance to be together all the time. We did have our first overnight camping trip away from home in July and it was a success, despite the ban on fires up Logan Canyon. Good thing we brought stuff for PB&J's. The boys did fabulously well sleeping in a tent.
I'll post some pictures from the last eight months and let them tell the stories. And I promise I'll do better at keeping up with the blog.
Our first foray into finger-painting. It was done outside and I still really couldn't handle it. I don't like messes. Like, at all. But the boys had a lot of fun. So much fun that they decided to paint each other! So we'll do it again next year. Ha ha!
Zak's birthday cake. Per was so excited about Daddy's birthday (in February) that he asked if he could help me pick the cake. This is the one he chose.
Helping Daddy blow out the candles.
This was also in February or March. Tripp is now too tall to sit in this basket. He's growing so quickly!
We took the boys to A Day With Thomas in Heber at the end of May. Surprisingly, the weather was miserable. Windy, chilly, rainy. Per's expression is not that great in this photo, but Tripp's is great. My favorite part of the day: the kettle corn in my hand. It was a fun excursion to do once, but the boys didn't love it that much, so I don't think we'll be going again.
This is Per before his haircut the first week of June. Shaggy boy.
And Tripp before his first haircut EVER. Cute stinker.
Tripp didn't enjoy his first hair cut at all. And he looked like a totally different kid once he had short hair. But still super cute!
For fun, Zak cut Per's hair in a mohawk before finishing the job. Per thought it was cool. I was really happy that he finished the haircut a few minutes later. I don't know how many of you recall the mullet haircut that stayed with us for about three weeks after Per's first haircut. Glad that didn't happen again.
Tripp's 2nd birthday.
Attacking the cake.
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| My three best guys. |
We decided to take the boys back up to the fine arts building on USU campus to take more pictures with their short hair, to contrast the long-hair pictures from before. It is really difficult to get the kids smiling or even looking at the camera in the same shot, so I consider this shot a pretty decent success.
Per is four now (we had a birthday party and a Lightning McQueen cake, but somehow all those pictures ended up on my phone. I'll have to figure out how to transfer them and do a post on his birthday since it was recent.) and is learning how to read. I am teaching him out of
this book. It is a challenge for me, as I am still not as patient as I should be. But he has had good success already with the few lessons we have done and is really excited about the whole process. He loves Lightning McQueen, and in fact, has informed me that he runs faster when wearing his Lighting McQueen tennis shoes and t-shirt. He also is so fast on his bike, which is one from the DI that we took the pedals off of and repainted to mimic those Strider bikes. Our version was a lot cheaper and he loves it. He is already asking for Santa to bring him a Lightning McQueen pedal bike and helmet at Christmas. He continues to be pretty painfully shy, but is very brave when he is on his bike. He likes Sunbeams, but I think that is mostly because Zak and I are his teachers. Some of his favorite books right now are
Dirty Joe, the Pirate: A True Story by Bill Harley and
The Circus Ship by Chris VanDusen. His favorite iPhone game is Egg Punch. I can't believe how good he is at games on my phone. Certainly better than I am. Per's favorite song is "
We Are Young" by Fun. He loves to sing and dance to it. He also really loves doing "artwork" which usually involves using my craft supplies to make a huge mess. Today we made artwork using my paper punches and scrap papers. He is a delight.
Tripp is two and is a bundle of energy. He doesn't stop moving when he's awake unless he is reading a book. He has a few books memorized and sits and reads them out loud to himself. It is adorable. Tripp is very outgoing and loves nursery. One of the older women in the nursery was amazed and commented to Zak last week that she was so impressed that Tripp speaks in full sentences. He is a great little talker. He loves to play with Per and especially loves to go to a park near our house that the boys have dubbed The Castle Park. His favorite thing to do is swing. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine and plays with trains as much as he can. Some of his favorite books right now are
Just Me and My Mom and
Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer, as well as
Hero of the Rails and
Misty Island Adventure, both Thomas the Train golden books. Tripp loves sidewalk chalk and was pretty devastated that it was raining this afternoon. I had to get out some "inside" chalk and let him color on some construction paper. He is a character and so much fun to be around!
Zak is back to teaching ninth and tenth grade English classes and is enjoying it. His classes are reading
The Hobbit. It is sad to have him at work every day again, but we are already looking forward to next summer. I am going to begin processing mortgage loans from home this month through the broker who helped us get our loan on our duplex last summer. He offered me a job a few months ago and now that I am a licensed mortgage loan originator, I am excited to do a little part-time work from home in a field that I am familiar with. I am happy to be back to a routine now that Zak is back in school. The boys and I are excited for story time at the library to start again this week, and we go to a little preschool lesson once a week at the Family Resource Library here in Logan. We continue to take lots of bike rides and bus rides and are enjoying the weather being a little cooler after a really hot, hot summer.
So glad you stopped by!
Swinging at the park.
Going on lots of walks.
Reading lots of books.
Learning the fine art of stuffing-crayons-in-the-nose.
Struggling with sleeping through the night.
Tripp had a birthday, shout hooray! And he demolished his cake. It. Was. Everywhere.
Tripp is experimenting with self-feeding using a spoon.
Per still has chubby toddler cheeks. I love them.
Per and Daddy reading The Bears' Vacation this morning before Zak left for work.
Per thought it would be funny to wear Tripp's pants the other night after we took them off of Tripp. The funny thing is that they look just like a pair of shorts he would normally wear except for the snaps on the inside of the legs.
There's a view of those top teeth. 
Not a great picture since it's all blurry, but his face was so cute. I love Tripp's laugh.
I made these pants for Per Saturday night, as he had very helpfully gotten marker on his other khaki Sunday pants. Found the pattern here. Loving the Celebrate the Boy month that is going on on MADE and Made by Rae. There are some variations on the pants on her site which I am really excited to try making, too! The pants were really easy to make (And I am not great with sewing clothes. Really. I'm not.). It took me an hour from the time I decided to make them to completion. I used some fabric my mom sent me a while back (thanks, Mom!).
And then I remembered these pants from circa 1978 and dug out this picture from my parents' slide collection. (My sister left a comment that these pants were made for her and she was totally embarrassed to wear them because my DAD made them! GASP! I think that's awesome! And, BTW, I would totally wear those pants if I had them.)
