Rain and Hail

Crazy thing happened a couple weeks ago (Thur May 22nd) and I'm sure most of you from around here noticed :) The weather was nice and cool and it rained (which is strange in itself) but the craziest part is that it hailed in our neck of the woods (which is really bizarre). The last time I remember seeing hail is probably ten years ago. The boys and I had a blast playing in the rain and hail in our backyard (poor josh missed it all because he was at work) Sad :( At least I got some fun pictures to show him :)

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As soon as the hail started coming down the boys came running back onto the porch shouting Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Then Tyler asks (very excitedly) "Mom, what are all those white sprinkles?" It was too funny! I loved their reactions to the hail :)

After discovering it would not REALLY hurt them, they got brave and started playing in it too.

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The hail pellets were the size of a frozen pea

We were a little disapointed when the hail stopped, but the boys still had fun playing in the rain.

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Swimming Milestones

For the past 6 weeks the boys have been taking swim lessons and their teachers are so impressed with how quickly they have progressed. All the pictures I've taken of them at their swim lessons are blurry or on my phone and not that great of quality :(. I'm bummed.

Just last night we discovered Tyler can actually swim without floaties! I had no idea! I look over and his teacher excitedly pointed to this blur going across the pool and it was my son! I was pretty excited. He still has much to learn, but He catches on so quickly!

Nathan went from screaming and not wanting anything to do with the water, to jumping in willingly and not panicing when we flip him to his back. He also does this cute thing where they have this floating runway that the toddlers walk fast and then jump off into the water towards the wall, then they reach/swim to the wall and climb out. 6 lessons ago Nathan would not even stand on the "runway" and now he does it all and is so happy and proud of himself when he does it! It is soooo cute! Right now they are taking lessons once a week, but starting in June it will be twice a week and if monetary means allows it, we will continue with lessons year round (it's an indoor swim school). I think it is so important for them to learn to swim and I'm so excited to see their progress each week!

The following pictures were taken over the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I'm still perinoid and put floaties on and everything :) Tyler surprised us all by accepting his uncle Tom's challange to jump in the pool from the high up ledge. After he did it a couple times he and his cousins all did it together so I could get some cool pictures :) They had a blast!

(Click images to enlarge them)

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Tyler showing off his floaties :) and Nathan not liking how cold the water is :)

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Tyler swimming after accepting Uncle Tom's challenge to jump in from the ledge all on his own.

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Yes, that is Nathan under the water actually swimming! (and without floaties!) He was more than cooperative once he got in the warm water of the hot tub instead of the 72 degree pool :)

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Crazy things the boys say...I've got loads of stories :)

I have more stories of crazy things Tyler has said and maybe a couple things from Nathan too.

This evening we had dinner at Souper Salad and Tyler to some lady at the salad bar "I think all ladies are beautiful.......even you". :) LOL A little confused as to if that was a compliment or not, she just said thank you? LOL

Also at Home Depot tonight our check out lady had a serious look on her face and he asked "why are you so mad looking?" I had to quickly smooth that over, not expecting a very happy reply :) LOL

Also at Home Depot he pointed to a employee when he was in the middle of talking and said "hey, why do you have such a big....." Josh and I looked at eachother quickly with horror on our faces not knowing what to expect, then before we could stop him he finished with "such a big pocket" while pointing to his apron. Josh and I glanced back at eachother with relief and Josh even said "phew" while wiping his brow. We laughed because it didn't even phase the guy and he didn't even seem to notice the panic in us. LOL :)

I swear I can't take that kid anywhere :)

I baked a cake on Sunday morning to take to family dinner while Josh got the boys ready for church. Tyler came out from the Bathroom, breathed in deeply, and said "what is that fantastic smell?". I laughed so hard! The emotion in his voice and his choice of words cracked me up.

Nathan is not embarassing yet, but I have a feeling it will be in the near future :) right now it's still cute, but I worry for the day when there are two curious boys asking questions in public.

Nathan loves the Apple ipod commercial and always sings "Shut up and let me go".....sigh...... we have tried to convince him it just says "let me go" but it just doesn't sound right and he knows better. So far he only sings it when we're at home and he sees it come on the tv (hopefully it stays that way) :).

Nathan says my instead of I, so he will say "my want Derek come over" (he loves his uncle Derek), or "My want to do that Tyler!!!!", "My want go Grandma's house". He doesn't get it mixed up with "I love you" though, it's funny.
He also says names very clearly and pronounces them correctly. He says Derek, Josh, Kayla, (yes he knows our names perfectly), Tyler, Nikki, Tom, Nick, ect...... but when it comes to his own name he has trouble. Nathan is "didis" or more recently "didin". We think it's so funny because he can say the N in Nikki and Nick just fine, but struggles with his own name :) We think it's kinda cute though :)

Fun and Games

There is this game that Josh plays with the kids and they love it! Not sure why....but it is hilarious to watch! Josh takes one of those big excercise balls or a huge dodge ball and throws it in the air only to come crashing down on the poor kids laying on the ground. This is a picture of Dallin, Macey, and Tyler waiting for the next round................

Notice the ball directly above them ready to crash down on them at any moment :) LOL

I crack up at their facial expressions when they are anticipating the whole thing :) LOL

Tyler plays this game with his Daddy all the time and he loves it! You can tell he thinks it's funny as his cousins have that look of terror :) LOL (they actually all had fun) :) .

Just click on the photo to view it larger (I highly recommend it, because it's pretty funny) :).

Checking for cavities :)

So, the boys (or guess I should say Tyler) has been begging for candy a lot lately.

It was time we refreshed his memory about what too much sugar does to teeth.

He was a little bummed at first.... then all of a sudden the worry set in. He started checking in the mirror for cavities. LOL :)

A couple minutes later, Nathan started checking too! LOL! They crack me up! :)

Tyler thinks it's great to "comb" his hair. He will go in the bathroom, get his hair wet and proudly come find us to show off the wonderful job he did "combing" his hair.

Today he was asked by his pre-school teachers (when making me a special Mother's day card) to finish the sentance.... "My Mom loves it when......" and His answer was "I comb my hair!"

I laughed when I read that because I remembered all the times he would show me how he combed his hair and he would always ask if I liked it and I always reply "I love it!"

Popsicle Season!

My boys are so happy it is Popsicles Season! They're so silly!

Daisy's Gone :(

Daisy left us last Wednesday and went to a new foster family where she has other dog friends to keep her entertained. I miss her because I no longer have my late night buddy that lays behind my chair guarding me. Even though our life is now less caotic and I am not constantly cleaning up you know what in the back yard and my shoes aren't getting chewed up anymore :). She loved shoes, and Nathan loved to throw mine out in the yard for her when I was not looking :). I called to check on her a couple days after she left and the lady said she is adjusting well and seemed to get along with most of her dogs.

The boys were sad in this picture (at least Tyler was), he was forcing his smile, because he knew she was leaving that day. He understood what was going on and Nathan just thought we were taking pictures with daisy for fun. I was disapointed that my camera lens had a smudge on it and I didn't notice it in time to get new pictures :(.

Tyler giving Daisy a "headlock hug"... poor dog, she was a good sport

and put up with a lot at our house.

Nathan Loves her. The Morning after she left he looked in her kennel, then looked out back and started calling for her. When she didn't come he looked at me confused and I had to remind him she was gone :( It was sad. When we actually met the new foster mom and moved Daisy from our van to her vehicle, Nathan was asleep and stayed asleep until long after we got home, so he never actually saw her not come home with us. Poor thing :(

Tyler keeps asking why we sent her away and it makes me feel bad, even though I know it was better for us. I just have to explain that she was never ours to keep and that she was just staying with us until she found her family. He doesn't always like my answer, but usually it's enough.

Despite missing her extremely sweet personality, I must say, I do love going back to my pet free home. I used to always want a lot of pets when I was younger, but that all changed when I had kids. Probably because I don't want anymore mess to clean up than I have to :) LOL She sure was fun to have around for the short time we had her :)

By the way, she is still up for adoption so if any of you want a good, quiet, sweet, dog (that could benefit from obedience training :)), she is a sweetheart ;) (just let me know and I will put you in contact with the foster mom). I honestly would have kept her had Josh and I agreed the timing was right and Tyler was old enough to take good care of her. She is a love.