Summer shoes and Brennan's 1st date

I've been feeling bummed recently that I can't wear cute capris or sandals this summer, due to my compression stockings. I mean I guess I could, but it would look pretty silly. So I decided to buy myself some cute shoes to make me feel better about the fact that I have to wear socks and shoes all summer. Have I mentioned how much I dislike shoes - shopping for them, wearing them, finding them when they're lost and we're late and we're trying to get out the door?

Check out these adorable Mudds I found, 50% off at Kohl's. I love them! I could have used a half size smaller, but my feet will probably grow over the next few months anyway. Now I just need to find some cute summery socks to wear with them.

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In other news, this week was Brennan's first date with dad. He's been sad the last few times Dave's taken one of the boys out, so we decided it was time for Brennan to start going too. I told Brennan he was going to go out with Dave and I asked him what he wanted to do. He said, "Go to work with dad!" They went to the downtown park and had the best time. He kept saying, "Brennan big! Date with dad!" the whole time. Then they went to a fun candy shop to pick out a lollipop. First he chose one from the outside display, but when he went inside, he was amazed by the choices and changed his mind. "Want orange one!" All during prayers that night, he kept yelling, "Date with dad!"

Weeding and flying kites

Saturday morning was the big Mormon Helping Hands service project for California. All the wards did service in their communities - we did weeding at a local park. It was from 9-12, but I didn't know realistically how long the kids would last. So I brought snacks and figured we'd hang out at the park when they were done.
To my total surprise, they worked hard the entire time! Except Dallin, who kept getting hurt and saying he wanted to go home. But that's just his way, so we ignored him. They really got into it - collecting lady bugs, announcing they should win the prize for picking the tallest weed, and using those long trash picker-upper things.

Afterwards we went to the pool for level placement. I put Spencer in swimming lessons when he was 5, and it was a total waste of time. He was in level I, and the teachers spent half the class trying to get the crying kids into the water. Since then Spencer has just sorta picked up swimming on his own, but I want him to learn more strokes and diving and things like that. We're going to put him and Tyler in lessons this summer, along with Kristen's kids.

It was such a beautiful day that as we were driving home from the pool we thought we should go to the beach or something. The problem was that after we all ate lunch I couldn't get off the couch and ended up sleeping a couple of hours. Then Kristen called and said they were going to the beach to fly kites, so we decided to join them. We grabbed our beach stuff and picked up dinner on the way. It was windy and cold there! But it was perfect for trick kites and digging in the sand, and we had a fun time.

Potty training update: Brennan hasn't had an accident in 2 days, and he pooped in the potty for the first time today! He was ticked when I put a diaper on him for church yesterday.

Potty Training 101

We've been potty training all week. Brennan's not quite 2 1/2, but he seemed ready. I think the biggest difference between him and my other boys is that he is willing to do it. Everyone else was physically able long before they were mentally ready. They would scream and cry whenever I even suggested sitting on the potty or wearing underwear. Brennan is happy to give it a try. That's just the way he is about everything. I think that's why he came 4th - so I'd appreciate this about him.On Monday we went to the store to buy fun underwear. We have tons of underwear around, but it's all too big for his tiny bum. He chose Elmo underwear, and he loves them. Plus he looks adorable in 'em. It was super hot out, so he just wore underwear all day. He didn't even notice the first time he wet his underwear. But after that he realized what was going on and freaked out about it, running to his potty. Diapers are so effective at pulling away the moisture that kids have no idea they're even peeing. I think it's important for them to have accidents so they can recognize what's going on. For 2 days he spent lots of time on the little potty, reading books and drinking water; and he went through lots of underwear, although he went less often the 2nd day and stayed completely dry Wednesday. Yesterday he peed in the potty 6 times! We celebrated with lots of jelly beans, which I bought after Easter for this very occasion. After being stuck close to the bathroom all week, we were ready to get out of the house. So today we went to story time at the library and grocery shopping. He kept his underwear dry all morning! He has pooped in his underwear once, so that's the next big hurdle. But this whole process has been quicker and easier than ever for me. I wonder if Dave will take him on the fathers and sons campout next month!

Les Miserables

Last night we went to the understudy rehearsal of Les Miserables because Ben played Javert. I didn't know if we'd go because it's hard to find a babysitter on a school night, especially when I knew we wouldn't get home until 11:00. But I found someone at the last minute - a senior who said she stays up 'till midnight every night anyway. Dave had never seen Les Mis, and it's been years since that time I saw it at the National Theater with Jen. The music is just amazing! My family listened to the Broadway tapes so many times growing up that I knew all the words without realizing I knew all the words. Except for the 2 songs we always fast-forwarded. Ben's voice was so deep and strong. We all commented afterwards that this was one of the first times we've seen Ben act and not look anything like himself. It was a very serious, dramatic role, and he did a great job with it. I only wished they would have worn more costumes last night. Most the smaller parts were just wearing leggings and big t-shirts. I know, it was just a rehearsal. But still. We all want to go back and see it with the regular actors now. And I want to see more costumes. Anyone want to come with us?

Birthday weekend Highs and Lows

Highs:
-going out to dinner with Dave Thursday night
-shopping for a new camera, although I haven't decided on one yet
-buying my first maternity shirts of the pregnancy

-coming home from Curves to the boys lined up at the top of the stairs, yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" and giving me a homemade card

-having a relaxing morning reading the paper, doing Sudoku puzzles and snacking on Easter candy

-going out to lunch with mom and Kristen, outside on a beautiful day

-Dave bringing home Panda Express for dinner on Friday

-eating yummy black forest cake, made by Dave and the kids

-feeling baby's first kick

-planting our garden Saturday afternoon

-grilling tri-tip for dinner tonight - yum!

Lows:
-finding out that Crate and Barrel couldn't get the dresser I want delivered to their store in time for our stake temple day this past weekend; so I decided to cancel our trip and reschedule it for a time when they'll have it in stock; this turned out to be a high, since I really didn't want to spend my birthday busily getting ready for an overnight trip
-finding out that Brennan was poopy just as I was falling asleep for my afternoon nap; getting up to change him, only to discover he also had poopy hands; going to his room to investigate further, since he was supposed to be taking a nap, and finding poop on his floor, on Dallin's bed and on the window blinds. That was definitely my lowest birthday low. I think I'm ready to potty-train the little stinker.

Jurassic Pack

The theme in cub scouts this month is dinosaurs, and I planned fun things for our den meeting yesterday. Unfortunately only 1 Wolf came (Spencer). We have a small group - a max of 4 ever come. I guess I really should have called everyone and reminded them we were back on after spring break. Anyway, it worked out because the Webelos leader didn't show up, so I took 2 and the Bears took 1 or 2. First we made fossil imprints. I made play dough and brought our big bin of dinosaurs. They used feet, bones, bugs and leaves to make the impressions. We tried to bake it while we were there, but they weren't hard by the time we had to leave. So I told them to just bake them at home or let them air dry.Then we made pipe cleaner dinosaurs.

Aren't they cute? Finally I sent them out while I hid dino eggs (i.e. Easter egg hunt). Some themes are just so fun.

Tyler's tooth

Tyler lost his 1st tooth yesterday. We were hoping it would come out last Saturday so that the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny could bump into each other, but his tooth needed a couple more days of wiggling. Our Easter bunny was right on time, but as usual our tooth fairy forgot last night. Hopefully she'll make it here tonight. Anyway, Tyler let Dave pull it out while I was at Curves yesterday morning, and Tyler was jumping up and down with excitement when I got home. I asked if it hurt, and he said no. In fact he liked it because he likes the taste of blood. Crazy boy.

Whoo-hoo!

Dallin learned to ride his bike on Saturday! Dave said he picked it up super fast, like in 10 minutes. He's also our youngest to ride a bike without training wheels. I don't even want to tell you how old I was, but let's just say we were living on Rock Creek Dr. As you can see, he loves it. You know how much he likes to go fast. He has started by himself and done u-turns. Now we just need to work on stopping.

Easter, part 2

Happy Easter everyone! We had a lovely day. Here are the boys, all cleaned up and ready for church.

We started the day with my family's tradition of running around the house reading clues to find the Easter baskets, and this year Tyler was able to help read them. They told me they tried to sleep in 'till 7:00, but they were just too excited. I think they woke us up around 6:45.
We threw all caution to the wind and let Brennan eat everything this year - even chocolate. However he did get a mild rash on his cheek, so perhaps we went a little overboard. At least we didn't have any nuts or peanut butter.

Once it warmed up we had an Easter egg hunt, and Dave had the best idea this year. We divided our yard into 4 sections - one for each of the kids. That way everyone got the same number and they were hidden according to their ability. Brennan's were just tossed around the grass, and he figured out right away what to do. He calls the jelly beans "beans!" Dallin's eggs were a little harder to find, but he found most of them without help. Yes, he is dressed as Batman. I think it is the dorkiest costume, with the big diaper-looking part and such. But he wears it all the time. Luckily he's growing out of it.

Tyler's eggs were all on the swingset. He loves an excuse to climb.

Spencer's were the hardest to find. In fact he was the last one to find them all. Dave has a lot of fun making it tricky.

After church we drove down to my parents' house for a yummy ham dinner. I was looking forward to it all week. I made 4 cream pies for dessert - coconut cream, banana cream, chocolate pistachio and chocolate with chocolate crust. Somehow that has become our traditional Easter dessert. By the way, just 4 more days 'till my b-day! I just love this time of year.

Easter, part 1

It's a busy weekend, so I'll post our Easter in 2 parts. Last night I performed in the He Is Risen concert at church. We've been practicing every Sunday night for the past few months, and I thought it came together nicely. I especially liked the orchestra that accompanied us. Dave and Spencer came, as well as my mom, Kristen and Nathan. Afterwards we ate at Chili's and ran into other choir members and their families.

This morning was a primary activity at church, and this afternoon Dave prepped our garden and we dyed eggs. Well I didn't color any - I just took pictures. It really is my favorite way to enjoy these activities. And I was happy we did it during the day for good lighting.

I love this picture! My handsome boys.

Between digging in the garden and dying eggs, everyone's hands were filthy. Some things even I can't photoshop out.

Dallin dropped his egg and cracked it right before this, but he managed to get happy for the picture. He especially liked using the egg wrappers this year.

After we dyed eggs I made sugar cookies for Dave to take to a hometeaching family. The kids insisted on leaving some out for the Easter Bunny tonight. I've never talked up the Easter Bunny, but they are firm believers anyway. Except Spencer, who even helped us pick out candy after Chili's last night.

Happy 7th Birthday, Tyler!

We had a mad science birthday party for Tyler today. My kids are always playing mad science with junk they find around the house (they especially love the Franny K. Stein books), so he knew it was what he wanted ever since he saw it in our Family Fun magazine. We had a couple of old lab coats and the boys spiked their hair. Here's Tyler's Mwa-a-a! look.
Here's the flask cake with cotton candy on top. The tall part is a paper towel roll.

First we just had his cousins Jacob and Peter come over for some mad science. We experimented with corn starch, milk, food coloring, baking soda, vinegar and dish detergent. The boys really got into it and made a fun mess.

Except Dallin doesn't like to be messy. He had to wash his hands pretty quick.

They especially liked playing with the corn starch and water.

We made the gelatin mold earlier in the day, and they had fun sticking fingers in the awesome gooey-ness.

Then we had my parents and the rest of the cousins come over for pizza, cake, ice cream and presents.

It was just so cute to see them all lined up, watching Tyler open his gifts.

"Two!!" As in Madagascar II. Then we watched it. What a fun day.

Mini burgers, anyone?

Tonight I made these lovely mini hamburgers for dinner. Aren't they cute?
April Fools!! They are vanilla wafer buns with sesame seeds on top, peppermint patty burgers, coconut lettuce died green (see, it's still all over my fingers; I can never seem to use food coloring without getting it on me) with icing mayo, ketchup and mustard to hold it all together. Delish! And lots of fun too.