Getting Married

So yesterday I'm sitting on the couch and Glen comes to me and says, "Mom, let's get married."
"Honey, I'm already married."
"Mo-om, I meant pretend." He said as if he were telling me something totally obvious.
So Glen put on a hat and tie, Benjamin put on a tie, and I put on a veil and held flowers. It was fun.
I sure love playing with my boys. These two have such great imaginations. They just love to pretend. "I'm not Glen, I'm Bob, and he's Larry. We're vegetables." "I'm not Glen, I'm the Lone Ranger and he's Tonto." "I'm not Glen, I'm a super hero, I'm a cowboy, I'm a pirate..."
Being a mom is the BEST!

Peace Gardens

Oh boy, today was tough. I have been really stressed lately and we have had a lot of tough days. But I feel inspired to do better, reading Louisa May Allcott will do that for you. Anyway, today we went with our summer play group to the Peace Gardens. It was really pretty. There are a lot of different area devoted to different countries, gardens area's tress, flowers, and cool little decorations like a mini Eiffle Tower, small houses, bridges, and even a miniature Stone Henge. The group was doing picture bingo, but my kids are to young for that so we kinda just wandered around doing our own thing. I was having a really hard time being patient because I wanted cute pictures, and they wanted to do their own thing without worrying about posing for mom or stopping to look at me and smile. So we compromised. They got to choose where to go, I got to take at least *one* good picture, and occasionally I got a turn to choose. ear the end when I let go we did better. I have noticed that the more controlling I try to be the less we get a long. So I try to let them do what they want so long as it isn't hurting anyone, harmful to material objects, or dangerous. And usually we do pretty good. There are times when I have to say we do this now because it is important, but kids need freedom. The more we suppress kids the more they rebel and do their own thing. I just need to teach my children to choose the right, and then let them choose.

Potty training has gone like that. When I got to controlling with it, Glen dug in his heels and wouldn't do what I wanted. But today when I was so ready to give it all up we sat down for a heart to heart and I told him how important this was. I told him that I was going to make it his job to stay dry, I would remind him occasionally, but it was up to him. If he does well he gets the Toy Story Snuggy he wants, if not then he has the natural consequence of cleaning up his messes and not getting his reward. SO far it has worked. I remind him and he goes or he doesn't, i don't push it. I have needed to remind him of the reward and that gets him going, but he is mush more willing.Heavenly Father gave us agency, the ability to make our own choices. I think that everyone, kids and adults alike, enjoy this feeling of having a choice and hate to have that choice taken away. We will sometime do the opposite just to prove we can still make our won choices. So now I am working to teach them to choose the right, letting them choose, and taking all these wonderful opportunities to learn patience and using them for good.

"A Book"

"Meow"
"Mommy, you're not a kitty."
"Am I a cow?"
"No."
"A horse?"
"No."
"You're right, I am a mommy."
"What kind of mommy?"
"A human mommy."
"No, not a human."
"Not a human? Well then, what am I."
Glen thinks for a minute...then with a look of intense concentration "You're a book!"

Race for the cure

To day I completed my first 5K. I was so excited about this one because of the cause. All proceeds from this race went to research in the hop[es of finding a cure for breast cancer. It was so moving so see all of the people out there in support of this race and cause. I was teary eyed as all of the survivors, including Glenna whom we raced for, paraded around the fountain and lined up for a picture. And there we so many who entered the race. The estimate was around 20,000.
I took the boys in the stroller and we walked this time, but I hope to run my next 5K. I will try to do another one at the end of the summer. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to take part in this race. I wish I had my camera so I could have gotten a picture. I was also very happy to see my mother in law waiting at the finish line to show her support for me with a sign and balloon for Glen, oh ya, and the "victory grapes."
A few facts about breast cancer;

• Although rare, men can get and even die from the breast cancer.
• 192,370 U.S. women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009.
• Studies show older women have a higher risk of breast cancer, as well as those with a family history of cancer, excessive drinkers and those who are overweight.
• More than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors live in the US.

Imagine a world without breast cancer.

Night at the museum

The first Monday of every month is free day at the Utah Museum of Natural History (with extended hours) so we went. I love this museum because it is so child friendly.
Benjamin laying on a foot

Glen streched out inside another footprint.

Glen and Emma excavating dinosaur bones.

Glen dove right in to this exhibit, literally. He tried to dive in.

Mommy and Glen have been feeling serious cabin fever. We are tired of being stuck inside. And while spring is slowly making an appearance it is nice to get out of the house and play. Free day at the zoo, free day a the museum...when is there going to be a free day at Cold Stone Creamery?

A day at the Zoo

We went to the zoo with our neighbors when there was a free day and we had so much fun.

Glen tamed these tigers after they stole his shoe.
We did get to see one of the elephants, but this one let Glen sit on it.
This picture is so sweet. Glen and our neighbor walking hand in hand.

We didn't get to see any rhinos, but it was fun to climb on this bronze statue.

This is the first exhibit we visited. The monkeys. This one black monkey (can you see him in the window?) had climbed up from the bottom of the pit and was pacing back and forth so the kids got a super close look that they loved.

Can you see the monkey on the branch above the black stand? It is called a cotton monkey. It had this cute little white afro on to p of its head and Glen was watching it leap from branch to branch and pointing at it.

This is the gorilla. He is laying right by the window you can kind of see him laying down there. Glen loved being up so close. He noticed that he and the gorilla both had eyes, noses, and toes.

This was Glen's favorite part of the zoo. The giraffes. There was a baby too. Glen also liked the geese that stopped to rest on the grass.

Other then watching the kids explore and enjoy the zoo, my favorite part was this monkey. He is standing in a small window like area watching all the people through his legs. I laughed and had to take a picture.

We had a lot of fun and the weather was just great. A little chilly, but the snow held off until we were leaving. What a great day.

Fun times

Not a whole lot has been going on at our house. We all were sick for a wile around the new year. John's family believes in sweating the sickness out so here he is sweating away. I had a lot of fun putting as many layers on him as I could.
He is wearing three pairs of pants, two coats, two hats, two pairs of gloves, three or four shirts, and has two blankets draped over his legs and shoulders. He is also holding up the honey and lemon tea I made for him. He stayed like that all day, what a trooper. I hate being hot so I can't stand this method long enough to know if it really works, but he got well soon after.



Glen has been sick quite a bit this year, but in between we get little breaks that are so much fun. Glen has so much energy when he is healthy that it is a wonder the walls hold him. He is constantly running, jumping, and climbing. He has taken to acting recently. He will get into the exersaucer, or baby swing and suck on a Binky, play with his toys and make sounds for them, pretend his bear or robot are babies for him to take care of, and so many other cute things. He has also learned the alphabet. Unfortunately he refuses to say the name of the letters, he will only say the animals name when I ask him, but he knows them all right.Benjamin has had a bacterial infection in his cheek that really bothers him it is so itchy, but the medicine the Dr. gave us works really well and the rash is almost completely gone. He is so much happier now. I can tell how much the rash was hurting him by the way he has been acting lately. He sleeps better, and coos and smiles much more then he was.
Benjamin has discovered how tiring play can be. I laughed when I saw he had fallen asleep while playing. I was in the kitchen when I heard him crying and a little later when I went in I saw him asleep and had to get a picture. He is getting more coordinated with his hands and loves his exersaucer.

Since I am usually the one behind the camera there aren't a lot of pictures of me so John picked one out.
What have I been up too? The usual I guess. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of the family, enjoying life. I love being a mom, I can't say it enough, it is the BEST!!! I have been having a lot of fun with Glen lately. He is talking so much I can get him to parrot just about anything (including the first paragraph of Pride and Prejudice.) And teaching him his letters, numbers, shapes, and color is fun. (he counts to three all on his own now) I have enjoyed playing with Benjamin and getting him to smile and laugh. I love to tell him stories and hear his coos.
Because of inspiration I received recently I have also been incorporating the scriptures into our day much more and spending more time with the boys and less with the computer. What a difference it has made in my attitude, their attitude, and the amount of fun we get to have. I am grateful the Lord knows my family well enough to tell me what is best for us. He loves us so much and has a big hand in our life.

Christmas Weekend

For Christmas this year our family went down to Cedar city. It was great (especially after Glen got over the terrible sickness he got when we were first there. One more reason I am so grateful for the Priesthood and for three worthy Priesthood holders in our family.)

Glen had so much fun playing with his cousin Elijah. Elijah got a tent play house set for Christmas and the boys had so much fun playing in it. It was funny because when ever one of them would say house they would both get really excited and run downstairs together yelling house. I'm really happy they had so much fun together.

Bejamin slept half the day, what did I expect right? He didn't have to rip the paper off the gifts, he just used his drool to dissolve the paper. :) His favorite gift is the Baby Einstein exersaucer that he got from Grammy. I set it up yesterday and Benjamin has been discovering all the toys, sounds and lights. Glen enjoys it a lot as well, he likes to tell Benjamin what the animals and other things are as well as help him lay with it. He will take Benjamin's hand and push it onto a toy to make it work for him. He is so helpful.

The only thing John asked for was a picture colored by Glen. So Glen colored this picture and we got a frame for it. Now it hangs in the living room so daddy can see it all the time. John also got a the latest book in the Wheel of Time series, "Gathering Storm" written by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Mom and I worked together to get some things so we can play baseball as a family easier, John got a bat, a net base set to cath the balls, and a bag to hold everything.

We also went sledding while we were down there. That was a lot of fun. There wasn't much snow, but there was enough. We found a little hill close by that both GLen and Elijah could go down by them selves. Hannah even went down by herself in her little sled. Benjamin stayed home with Grammy, but Glen came along and we all had so much fun. I really enjoyed watching Adam and John try to outdo each other on the hill. They tried going down on their bellies and standing up.

All in all we had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves.