A cornicopia of a post, if you will.

Dear readers, all both of you. You know how the longer you go without posting, the longer the post is going to have to be?  So you just need to bite the bullet and write a really long post?  This is it.

A few weeks ago, we went to Payson Lakes to do some fishing.  Well I didn't fish, of course.  Sarah reeled in a fish or two and Justin caught a couple with her princess pole.  Kristen, Sarah, Henry and I walked around the lake.  The lake may look small but it felt large pushing a stroller around it.

Henry either loved or hated Sarah's hat.  I don't remember now.

My fisherman.

Henry figured out how the pull the DVDs out of the stand.  I was waiting for this day secretly hoping it would never happen.  The stand now faces the wall. I will probably turn it around next time I need to get something done. Can you see his top teeth?  They're huge with a big gap.  Is it okay to say that?  Sarah's were the same way until the other teeth came in.

I gave Henry the core of a mango and it kept him occupied for about 20 minutes.

Justin and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary.  During the day, we went bowling.  Here Sarah got a strike to celebrate.

Later Nadine watched the kids while we went to Texas Roadhouse. Here is a conversation Justin and I were fortunate to overhear from the neighboring table, full of adults.

Customer: What's the difference between the kinds of steak?
Waitress: Well there's the ribeye, it has the most marbeling.
Customer: What's marbeling?
Waitress: It's the kind of seasoning they put on it.

Fist of all, he should know. Secondly, she should know. How does a grown man and a steakhouse waitress have this exchange? It may have been the highlight of our annivesary.  That and the rolls and honeybutter.

I don't remember why I took this picture.  He sure is cute.

Not pictured but certainly noteworthy, my nephews Jack and Christian graduated from highschool.  We went to Chuck-a-rama where I ate more honeybutter. Thanks for graduating, you two. I was craving that.  For an article on my awesome nephew and an adorable picture see here.

This past weekend we went to Hurricane to stay at my parent's condo.  We went Wednesday night and Justin's family came down Thursday night.  Thursday we took the kids to this splash park in downtown St. George. Henry can flood the bathroom so I knew he'd like it.

 They also had a fountain thingy like here in SF and a river and waterfall.

 And they had a carousel that the kids ride free and adults are $1.  Cutest face ever.  You look handsome too, Justin.

 Can you believe I had to talk Sarah into going on it?  Just like on Mary Poppins, I told her.

 Afterwards we went to Iceberg for lunch.  These two are too cool for school.

That's the end of the photos for that trip. I don't know why. Friday we went boating at Sandhollow (I forgot my camera). After a 3 year hiatus, I tried my hand at wakesurfing.  And after an intense tube run, I was so sore. Sarah likes the tube as long as it is sloooow.

Saturday we took the kids to the pool while the fam went back to the lake.  Justin was sore and sunbuned and I was sore so we just played in the pool.  We have two little fish on our hands.

Then Justin got sick, Henry got sick, we came home and I got sick.  Let's see how Sarah does.

Speaking of Sarah.  This is hilarious.  She is singing "just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down" while holding out her hand fully expecting a bird to come to her and sit on her finger.

And the most important piece of news, Justin got a new job!  He will be working for Anderson Engineering in SLC! I am very excited not to have to move to Topeka or Fargo.  Justin is happy he doesn't have to leave his hunting grounds. Sarah is working on pronouncing "engineer."

Henry is One

Henry the Heavyweight weighs in at 17 lbs 5 oz and 27.5 inches.  He's hovering around the 5th percentile.  Like his doctor said, he's small but we'll take him.  These pajamas are 6 month old size.

He's telling me he's one.

He can sign "more" and "milk". He can say Da and Hi.  He also says 20 other words but I don't know what he means but he's saying something. He's constantly jabbering. I'm going to have two big talkers.

He is always up cruising the furniture and he'll let go and balance on his own once in awhile. He thinks it's a funny game.  He loves to snuggle. He has started giving hugs.  If there's a blanket on the floor, he'll tackle it then bury his head in it, sigh, and then giggle. 

He also thinks he's funny when he stands up in his highchair and when he pulls Sarah's clothes out of her drawer. He cracks himself up all day long.

Monday was his birthday. We didn't do anything special during the day.  He didn't know it was his birthday so anything spectacular would only stress me out.  Sarah sure knew it was his birthday and would randomly cheer, "Henry, it's your birthday!" or "Henry, you're 1!".  She's a good sister and crazy about birthdays. Is that enough use of the word birthday in one paragraph? Birthday.

Here's his bouncing ball cake. I was stressed out about it but I think it turned out great.  It's white cake with chocolate mousse filling.

When Justin got home from work, we took a picnic dinner to Mapleton Park and met up with my fam and Justin's family. Henry loves the swings. His shirt says Lil Cake Monster and you'll see why.

You get to see this here first before we win tons of money on AFV. I shouldn't have been surprised Henry ate his birthday cake like this.  He loves food.

After getting stripped down and cleaned up with a dozen babywipes, presents!

He was pretty excited about this big bouncy ball.

 He gives a good crusty. I think he's telling his big cousins to back off his goods.

I made him this growth chart. This pretty much maxed out my craft skills. If it's not created with fabric, I struggle. I'm not going to tell you how many times I had to paint over the 3 to try again. Paint pens are not as easy as they sound. I'm gearing up to make Sarah's.

Now if he'll just grow....

I love my little guy and am so excited for this year.  I love one-year-olds.

This Mothering Thing Rocks!

Instead of taking 2 naps totalling 3+ hours, Henry now takes 1 nap for 90 minutes.

Sarah took up fake smoking.

How was your Mother's Day?

(Henry's birthday was yesterday so be looking forward to that post when I can get around to it.)

Things I Don't Want to Forget About 3-year-old Sarah

Today is Sarah's half birthday. Lest I forget, I'm posting some of my favorite things about her.
She sorts the silverware by the forks and spoons she likes and doesn't like.

She needs the Macey's ad to look at while she eats her breakfast.

She won't wear the same pair of pj's two nights in a row.

She has a great need to be understood and to understand.  Ideas have to be repeated until we get it right.

She picks me a fresh bouquet of dandelions every morning.

She'd live at the park if I'd let her.

Time is measured by who's birthday is coming up next. "Then who's birthday is it?"

She climbs on my bed every morning and asks, "Where are we going today?" "I want breastast" (not a typo) "Mom, can you open your eyes?" Usually in that order.

She tells me "bad guy stories" in which she encounters bad guys and fights them off with her kicking and running skills.

She loves to pull weeds. (She gets that from me. I have a compulsion.)

She is a very thorough straightener and organizer when it's her idea and she wants to clean.

We can't break her from saying nilk for milk and nakian for napkin.

But I love that she says Family Home Homing for Family Home Evening

Sussaser is how she says professor.

She says "mostly" when she means "almost" ("It's mostly Henry's birthday.")

She says "about" when she means "without" ("You won't go about me?")

She is Henry's guardian, clown, assistant, best bud. She lives to make him happy.

But if he's got a toy she wants, all bets are off.

We celebrated her "unbirthday" with  pink pancakes for breakfast and will have a picnic in the living room for lunch.

Justin's Graduation

It's the moment we've all been waiting for! Well, at least the moment Justin and I have been waiting for.  No more homework, tests, projects, late nights! It's summer time all the time now.
Lining up with the rest of the graduates for Thursday afternoon commencement.  He looks like a professor huh?

He's somewhere over there.  I didn't bring the kids with me since I was pretty sure I would get bored, there's no way they would have survived.

This picture pretty much sums up Justin's life the last few years. I am so proud of him!

This may be the most documented moment of Justin's life. My mom had a thousand pictures, I took video. Here's just a couple to highlight the moment.

Shaking the hand of some important smart guy. Woohoo!

This is my dad. He is where Henry gets his red hair.  Justin thinks he's a mini Punqwa.

I remember thinking last year that we'll have 2 kids when Justin graduates.  Our baby boy will almost be a year old and I imagined what this day would look like.  Well here's the real thing. Sarah was obsessed with the tassle.

 Like wouldn't leave it alone.

 Seriously.

This is Henry and Gray.  They are best friends.

Justin says he's going fishing, finishing the basement, and cooking dinner every night (I made up that last part).

Justin Dye, MS

It's official.  More details to come.

Henry is 11 months old

11 months and 4 days to be exact.  I am already so excited for his birthday.  1 is so fun. 
His crawling skills improve everyday which means he is getting faster. He figured out he can go where he's never been (like the bathroom and under the kitchen table) so baby-proofing is a continual process. He can pull himself up to stuff and cruise a little but he doesn't know how to sit down so when he's bored, he cries. But mostly his mood is much better because of his new found freedom. He knows where all the doingy door stoppers are in all the rooms.

He still has just 2 teeth.  He loves any food we put in front of him. He can drink from a straw like a champ and he knows exactly what we mean when we ask him if he wants to splash in the tub.  This kid can flood a bathroom.

He loves his big sister.  He gets so excited to see her in the morning.  When she sleeps in, he eats and plays but is always looking around for her.  He even has a special yell when he calls for her.

Easter 2012

Every morning for a week, Sarah asked if it was Easter.  She was a little excited. She even remembered last year's egg hunt.  We had a big hunt with at my mom and dad's house with a bunch of cousins.  They all went home with more than enough candy.

 Henry got in on the action.

 My handsome boys.  That's what I said right after I took the picture.

How cute is Henry! He started crawling that day.  He proved to us all that he can learn to crawl without lying on his stomach....at nearly 11 months old.

 Egg monster.

This is Sarah in her Easter dress Sunday morning before church. She gave her first talk in Primary.  We practiced and practiced all day Saturday. She loved doing it.  She did it for my mom, she did it for the camera so I thought she'd be fine.  But when we got up there, she buried her head into my chest and wouldn't talk.  I read the talk while she stood next to me.  Then she said the last couple of lines and bounced to her seat.  Justin asked her how it went and she said "Good."  That's what matters, right?

 Henry is also pulling himself up to things and cruising around very slowly.  Just a few days of crawling and he's ready to walk!

Found this little gem in the library today. The word "midget" caught my eye, as it always does.

My Kids Are Deceptively Cute

All day long I think, gosh these kids are hard to take care of.  They take turns whining and crying and being hungry and getting dirty so I don't have a moment's peace. 
But at night when they are tucked in their beds and I go through the pictures to decide what to blog, the photos I've taken the last few days tell a different story.  Don't let these pictures fool you.  My kids are pills.

I mean, c'mon.  Look at this face.

The dollar store had some Easter painting things. Best dollar I've spent in long time.  This kept her occupied for hours.  I got her one last year and stressed myself out trying to teach her to rinse her brush before changing colors.  She didn't need help this year but Minnie did turn out all yellow.

Sarah slept over at Justin's parents house because....well I don't know why. She just gets it in her head that that's where she has to be and her Nana is kind enough to accommodate her.  She said she was going to stay for 5 days. I got her to come home at 2 pm the following afternoon only with the promise of making cinnamon rolls.

Anyway, since Henry was an only child for 20 hours, I decided to let him play with Sarah's things that she never shares with him.  Sorry Sarah, I am that kind of mom.

 Giddyup.

Saturday after the morning session of conference, Justin died on the driveway (not for reals).  It was quite the crime scene for Sarah and her sidewalk chalk.

She's learned to climb the porch steps by scaling the outside of the porch railing. She's like 4 feet from the ground. It does wonders for my blood pressure.

 This bag is not a toy.  It's a good distraction while I make dinner though.

I don't know what she's doing here. She danced around with this washcloth on her head for awhile today.

After all that, even I'm beginning to wonder if they're really that tough.  And yet my sore arm and tired eyes and the mess in the kitchen bring me back to reality.