Boys are nasty!

 So I woke up this morning to Hyrum pooping in his Pull Up (he wears them only for wetting the bed).  I got on to him about not being a baby and how he knows better than pooping in his pants.  This boy is 4 and still poops in his pants (yes, even in his underwear) every once in a while.....I just don't understand.  Anyways, so I get him in the shower when the cat jumps in.  We have the oddest cat that loves to jump in the shower when we are in there.  He doesn't necessarily like getting wet, but it doesn't bother him either.  He usually jumps in and then jumps out.  In the amount of time that I left the bathroom to throw away Hyrum's diaper I hear this evil little laugh.  I come back to find Hyrum holding his penis and a wet cat!  Needless to say, Hyrum and Nico both got a shower this morning.  So I texted my family and friends this morning to tell them all how nasty my child is.  My favorite reply was from a friend, Katie, in Oklahoma.  She said it must be something about the day because her son, Micheal, pooped on the front porch that morning!

What is wrong with boys!

I mean, really?!

So this, of course, made me think of past nasty experiences.  I started laughing as I remembered past things that were not so funny at the moment (like this morning when I wasn't in the mood to give both Hyrum and the cat a shower right before heading out to get the older boys to school.....needless to say, we were late!).  Like when we lived in Colorado.  We bought a house (I miss you house!) that had stairs.  One day Levi and Brigham were sliding down the stairs like they usually did.  For some reason, Levi didn't have his pants on but did have his diaper on.  Apparently he had a poopy diaper because the next thing I know there were poop streaks down the CARPETED stairs!  Luckily, we had just bought a carpet cleaner.....

 Both Levi and Hyrum, as babies, took off their diapers and painted their cribs with their poop......

But the best would have to be Brigham.  While we lived in Orem, David was outside with the boys one day.  He was in the back yard when he realized that Brigham wasn't back there anymore.  So he went to the front of the house to see if he was there.  Sure enough, there he was....... squatting, pants down, taking a dump!  IN THE FRONT YARD!  This was in front of a very busy street, mind you!  This same street had a movie theater on it.  Can you imagine driving down this street and seeing some little 3 year old pooping in the front yard?

Oh my.....what to do......

Discovery Gateway

I found these coupons for buy one get one free admission to the Discovery Gateway in Salt Lake.  It is a children'e museum and every since going to the one in Denver with April and her family (when they came to visit us while we lived in Colorado) I have wanted to go to another one.  I don't know if it was because my kids were younger then or if the one in Denver was just better but I wasn't as impressed with this one.  Don't get me wrong, the boys enjoyed it but I guess I just thought there would be more stuff geared towards the older kids also.

This one was fun because it made me think of Daddy :)

After David saw these pictures of the older boys on the climbing wall, it got him excited to take them to a real one.

Hyrum could have stayed at each station forever.  He really liked this museum and the super market area was no different.  The older boys didn't want to have anything to do with it but it was cute to see Hyrum use his imagination.  

All in all they did ok but I was ready to go home when all was said and done.  Brigham was SUPER hyper and when we went to get something to eat afterwards, Hyrum threw a fit while flinging himself on the ground, making it clear he didn't want to eat there.  I was strong though and I didn't give in.  The older boys and I ate lunch, while Hyrum cried.  It really can be so hard not to give in (especially in public) but I do notice that when I stay strong, I don't see as many tantrums.  

I sure do love my boys but as I was recounting my experiences today with David, I realize that not every outing can be a great one and that is ok.

Random Events

We bought this magic eraser board thingy, to keep us in better check with upcoming events, while we lived in Oklahoma.  Whether it was church, sports, school events, play dates, scouts, birthdays, whatever....our calender was booked during the school year.  I'm sure things will change but we have been in Utah for almost 2 months now and our calender is amazingly empty and I LOVE IT!  It makes for more time to play!  Don't get me wrong, I still get a little edgy when I  have been away from home for too long and end up doing nothing (socially) for a day or two.  But I have to say that I really love the randomness of what I have been able to do lately because of our new found free time.

I was going through my pictures and realized that I hadn't journaled some of the things we have done.  Here we are in front of Stephen and Holly's house with their children.  It was Holly's birthday so we "heart attack"ed her door in January while she and Stephen were at the temple.

Levi's grade had a career day and he just happened to pick a builder (later he told me that when they turned all the possible careers over -they were on little pieces of paper- he made sure that he remembered where that builder was!).  I still think he deserved to win the prize for best dress up but at least he had fun putting Daddy's REAL construction gear on!

These are the faces of some very happy boys when I informed them that we were not going to school and going to the aquarium instead!

Here is Mrs. Steiner and Brigham during his Valentines Day party.  She is such a pretty lady and I never can seem to get past those beautiful eyes of hers.  I learned not very long ago that she was born almost legally blind.....who knew?!

Tonight we went to Ogden to visit some of our friends, the Brennan Family.  They have 3 girls and I have never seen a group of girls like them that like to do what my boys like to do!  Now, they are not nearly as rowdy as my boys but they can get in with them and hold on tight.  I LOVE IT!

Once again, I love being here.  I feel at peace more and more and I am so grateful for that.

Church History Museum

Since we hadn't had Family Home Evening yet this week, I thought we should take the boys to the Church History Museum and meet our friends, Christine and Mike, there.  The museum has this exhibit on display, for the rest of the year, geared towards children to help them understand the Book of Mormon.  The displays are nice because the children actually get to play on/with them.  The first one was of the ship Nephi help build.  They got to "fish" off of it as well as look at some remakes of the golden plates.

But even the adults had a hard time lifting these heavy things :)

There was different things to entertain the kids but Christine and I ended up entertaining ourselves :) Since the people of the Book of Mormon lived in the Americas there was a Latin America display of their culture.  You got to dress up in their native dance clothes while watching a screen that showed you how they dance.  We danced in front of a large mirror so we could see what we were doing, not really paying attention to everyone around us.....until we looked over and saw all these adults watching us!  Hehehehehehe.....

Brigham with his namesake, Brigham Young.  After taking this picture Hyrum said, "Where is Hyrum Young?"  He wanted me to take a picture of him with his namesake.  He is so cute.....even if he got the name wrong!

I am not a fan of cities.  I never have been but it always amazes me how you can be in downtown Salt Lake City, on temple grounds and actually feel like you are in your own little world.  The car sounds drown out and it is peaceful.  

Party Time

Yesterday was Sofie Wilson's birthday.  She had her party at a rec center in Cottonwood Heights.  This was a special treat for the boys because: 1. The older boys were FINALLY going to see the Wilson's and 2. It was going to be at an indoor pool!  

As we were walking from the van to the rec center I saw this man in the distance (the boys were WAY ahead of me.....they were quite excited).  Then I heard him say, "Hi boys!"  I immediately recognized Shannon's voice (Sofie's Dad).  It is neat to me how certain things can remind you of home.  Since we meet the Wilson's in Oklahoma, I relate them to home.  I immediately had this safe feeling inside of me.  I am so grateful for the gospel and how it has placed my family in circumstances to know people that I respect so much.

The boys spent most of the time in the kiddie area.

I think this area is for pool toys.  The water drops the toys from one place to another with the moving water.  Hyrum, however, used it for other reasons......it wasn't long before the lifeguard was over there to tell us to get Hyrum out of there.....whoopsie!

But as much as I want the boys in the kiddie area, the older boys want to be big.  

I LOVE my Morgan and Sydney and their natural Mommy instincts.  I wasn't comfortable with the boys going off the diving boards because they wouldn't have life jackets.  So the girls took over and had them swim over and over again first to make sure they could swim well enough.  

The final results!

Here is the picture I took of me with Sydney and Morgan that I sent (cell phone) to all our Okie friends letting them know how us Okies were making a good impression on the Utards around here!  

Reuniting

One of the great things about moving back to Utah is the friends we get to reunite with!

I have to admit that my older boys get very jealous of pictures like this.  During the time when Levi and Brigham are at school, Hyrum and I have went to go and see Tricia and her kids that are still at home.  It is often asked in our house, "Can we go to the Wilson's today?"  I feel bad because I can see her fairly easy because of that free time when they are at school.  Needless to say, we are planning a trip to play with the Wilson's on our next whole school day off so they will leave me alone!

This was our first time meeting Bridger (Rob and Erin's son).  I would have never recognized him if I would have just met him on the street.  The last picture I had of him was as an infant with dark eyes and very dark hair!  He is so cute and I can't get over how well this boy eats.  He is the healthiest little boy I have ever met.  I watched him as his mother opened up an avocado and started spooning it in his 2 year old mouth.....wow....still impressed!

Here is Hannah having Sunday dinner with us.  I love this about her.  She doesn't have to come over with Ronald.  She is comfortable to come over with or without him.  Even if the poor girl had to be exposed to some nasty gravy!  I didn't have any brown gravy or cornstarch to make gravy with the juices from the roast.....so I resorted to my soy flour....um, I wouldn't recommend it.......

Here is Eileen letting Hyrum help with this homemade and very healthy meal.  I hadn't seen Eileen in probably 4 years.  About 2 weeks after we moved to Utah, she and her family moved here too (from Las Vegas)!  She is a very healthy eater and so she makes nothing with sugar and MSG.  She came over and served us pizza, salad, fruit, and even ice cream.....all without sugar and stuff.  I was most impressed with the ice cream.  I am not a huge ice cream fan but I still can't believe hers was so good without sugar.  She even had chocolate syrup to put on it (made with honey).  It was awfully thoughtful of her to do this with Hyrum and I.  

The last time we lived in Utah we lived in an apartment complex where we got to know the Boothe family.  Tammy and I had play dates often until she moved.  Other women with their children came but I was so much more comfortable with her because she made me laugh so much.  She is so witty and has the best kids.  Here we are at Calvin's (her son) baptism last week.  

And last but CERTAINLY not least!  I knew Kristi from college but was much closer to her now husband.  He married her and I have always liked her.  But it wasn't until we moved to Utah in 2006 and had many play dates together that I fell in love with her.  She is one of the kindest people I know which makes it so easy to open up to her.  She has 4 boys and I love that we can talk all boy stuff and still have our girly times together ( with NO BOYS!) and enjoy things WE love!  

So, many get togethers have happened and I still have more planned for the future.....sure love being back in Utah!

Prayers

I am not the best at praying.  I am a part of prayers at every meal at home and every night before family scripture study and if I am asked at church and at Family Home Evening but other than that I am not consistent.  Some may say that is very consistent but to someone who believes that personal prayers are very important, I really lack.  I am much better at making sure that my children pray than I am about me praying myself.  

Listening to my children pray makes me want to be better.  Levi can get caught in that rut of saying the same things each time he prays.  Brigham, however, only says one sentence that is the same everyday.  "Please help us  to find a way to live with You again."  It still makes me so proud of him every time I hear it. Before that he usually wants blessings and is thankful for everything from insects to his food.  Hyrum is a wonderful communicator with his Father in heaven.  He never asks for anything.  He just loves to tell Heavenly Father about himself and his family.  It is so cute.  "My brothers at school.  They are Levi and Brigham.  Daddy at work.  Me and Mom at home.  Nico is our cat.  I am Hyrum David Adams."  I love his prayers!

I never correct Hyrum's prayers.  I have listened to many children's prayers at meal time.  Often they forget to bless the food and they seem to always be corrected by a parent afterwards.  Another short prayer is said afterwards to bless the food.  I understand the parents reasoning.  Our bodies are our temples and we should put things in them that would bless it.  But I have a different look at prayers.  I believe we are encouraged to pray so often, like mealtimes, to be reminded to have that "constant prayer in our hearts."  Meals remind us to pray throughout the day.  So I don't mind if our food is blessed or not.  I just want my children to be reminded to talk to Him.  Something I need to work on for myself.

Aquarium: Part II

Either I wasn't the best example or I was being a fun Mom....either way, I didn't make the older boys go to school today. Instead, we went to the aquarium. I love being with my boys when they are so appreciative of things. They acted as if it was the best day of their life!