Why are not bored...ever...

Some people claim that summer can get pretty boring... Oakley may even think that once in a while.

I wish we could go out all the time but it just gets too hot! Sometimes we will only be out for a few minutes before Oakley is red-faced and Benson is just too uncomfortable. So we beat the heat with a movie.

 But when we go out it is usually to ride the new bike. or play with chalk and water.

 Oakley even helped me transplant my Mother's Day Begonia. I also found some Zinnia seeds that were from my Uncle Daniel's wedding about 11 or 12 years ago.

 A family friend gave Oakley this cute horse. He loves "riding" around on it.

 Sometimes Oakley gets a little carried away with the markers...

 I have such a good helper when it comes to cleaning. I hope Oakley is still this excited about cleaning in a few years.

 I try to change up coloring time every now and then. I received a shipment of diapers and decided the box was perfect. Oakley loves sitting in boxes anyway so he had a lot of fun coloring in it.

 Oakley has been pretty good at number and shape recognition. He decorated this two all by himself. He can even say "two" and show me two fingers. (Just in time for his birthday!)

 We like to take pictures around here. Oakley photobombed my session with Benson. I love this picture for some reason.

 And of course pillow fights with Daddy are always fun. These two crack me up with their antics.

What do you do to beat the summer heat and boredom? I need more ideas!

3 Months

Benson is growing up fast. At three months he:
*Holds his head up during tummy time.
*Supports his own head while being held.
*Sleeps 10.5 hrs at night.
*Enjoys talking to people.
*Likes to be up and facing the world so he can see what is happening.
*Wears 6 month clothes.
*Is a fast eater. It only takes maybe 10 minutes to eat.

24

 What? I'm twenty-four? When did that all happen?

I had a great birthday. I hung out with my boys all day. Daniel came home early and made dinner. They boys also made me this delicious birthday cake. mmmm! Oakley was a lot better at blowing the candles than I was!

Some significant things that happened this year are:
*I received my teaching license
*We built a house
*Challenged myself by cooking tons of new recipes
*Pieced my first quilt
*Moved to a new town
*Had a second baby
*Became a leader for the Activity Day Girls
*Grew out my hair (a big deal for me)

I feel like my life is kind of quiet. But I love it. It's ok that I'm not doing a ton of cool things and going all over the world. I enjoy being a stay at home mom. To me, that is the most important job I will ever have and there is never a dull moment!

Independence Day!

I love this holiday. I don't know what I love most. Is it the parade? Family? Sun? BBQs? Fireworks? Derby?

While I was doing my student teaching last year I asked my kindergarten students why they have the 4th of July. They had no idea. They just thought it was all about parades and fireworks. I was sad they didn't know about the birth of our country or the brave men and women that have defended it over the years.  I love everything about this holiday and vow to teach my children the importance of it.

I love how the Delta parade starts. 

 My favorite float of the whole parade. Every time I see these veterans, my eyes tear up.

 Oakley enjoyed Grandma Staheli's lap for a little bit.

 And Benson enjoyed being with his Grandma Kunz. He pretty much slept through the entire parade.

 Emersen taught Oakley all about collecting candy. She was a pro. She figured out that if she waved at everyone, they would throw her candy.

 Oakley didn't care too  much. But sure enjoyed having his daddy help with the collection.

This was the most exciting thing Oakley picked up. He loved it!

 Oakley surprised us with this silly face. I didn't know he knew how to do that!

 

Oakley enjoyed playing with the bubbles in the stream at the city park.

 We had a good hot dog roast.

 And Oakley rode around with his cousins. They sure get along well together!

 Oakley was also a good helper in the kitchen.

 And got soooo tired and would only nap on Grandma.

 I asked my sister to take a family picture for us. Her kids thought they should be in the picture too. I love the chaos.  I gave me a small foreshadow of years to come!

 Don't you love all of my kids? I DO!

 Emersen wanted to hold Benson. She is so cute with him!

 Grandma tried to read stories to all of the kids. I love how crazy they all were but still paying attention to the story.

 Oakley loves his cousins. They seem to enjoy him too. He will eat all of their scraps. Bentley was sharing his smarties.

All Things June

 Well June got away from me. This will just be blog of it all. And full of pictures!

Oakley is enjoying having Benson around. He likes to hold him for 2 seconds and then go on with life. Sometimes a wish there was more interaction between the two, but I know that will come with time.

 My mom gave me all of her Joy School activities and some lesson plans she created. Oakley loved sitting in the box they came in. He also thoroughly enjoyed the puppets my mom had made.

Sometimes it is just so hot outside. A favorite activity of ours is "Paint the Deck". I will give Oakley a bucket of water, a bowl and a paint brush and he just goes to town painting the deck. Mostly it ends up being a splash paint job instead of brush strokes.

Dan and Oakley had a boys night. (Mom may have crashed it a little bit.) The original plan was to sleep on the deck, but the mosquitoes were out that night. so they had to make do with the tent in the basement. Oakley didn't mind too much though. We also had some chocolate fondue and watched Gnomeo and Juliet.

My Grandma Christensen and Aunt Janese came up to visit. Neither had seen Benson yet. It was great to visit with them. They took the boys and I out for lunch and then I took them to the Brigham City temple to walk around the grounds.

 We got Oakley a pool. Since there is no grass, we just set it up on the deck. He loves it!

Sometimes I will bring it inside and fill with pillows and blankets. We watched a few shows in this comfy pool!

 My parents brought up all of my stuff that I still had stashed away at home. I think it was about 6-8 boxes. I went through it all. I found about $100 worth of money some of which were Euros from various trips over the years. Oakley inherited many of my stuffed animals and loves to wear my old clogging hat.

 Oakley loves to play with his blocks. He was so proud of this tour and wanted me to take a picture of it.

 Dan took Oakley for a drive. The blazer popped another tire. (the second one in a week) Oakley new exactly what to do.

Sometimes I find Oakley reading his books after he wakes up in the mornings. I love that he loves books.

 Benson is starting to hold his head up really well!

Oakley is always riding our neighbors' bikes. We decided to get him his own. He was so excited that he couldn't wait for Dan to finish installing the wheels. Oakley just grabbed it and started to "ride" it.

 Of course Oakley likes the fact that he can stash things in the seat. (See all the books.)

 Dan took Oakley for a little hike. Oakley loved it. He out-hiked his dad. At the top of the rise Dan said he was huffing and puffing. Oakley looked at him and started to huff and puff, too.

 It was a hot day!

Oakley brought back these flowers for me. The smile on his face was priceless as he handed them to me! We kept them on the table for a few days.

 We have an extra guest bed sitting in our front room until I get furniture to fill it (and a room built downstairs). It is the prefect place to hang out and read stories.