Bubble Head

My children don't take bubble baths very often because of Brigham's eczema and because normally Daddy is the one giving the baths. Daddy does "short" baths and then shuts the curtain and lets them splash for a few minutes before getting them out. Well, here lately I have been doing a few of these baths and I've been adding bubbles. I bought a new thing of bubbles and informed the boys of it last night. I was going to give the bath that night but decided to clean up after dinner instead. When Brigham found out, he informed me that I needed to show Dad how to "do the bubbles" because Dad wouldn't know which bottle was for the bath. It brought a huge smile to my face because Brigham thinks that Daddy can do ANYTHING! I mean it; he really does think that he can do anything and knows everything. Not to long ago he asked me a question and I didn't know the answer. He proceeded to tell me that it was ok and that he would just ask Daddy later because, "Daddy knows everything."

The differences between Levi and Brigham

Brigham and Levi are completely different. They don't really look alike, their personalities don't match, and they learn completely differently. The last truth is what brings me to this post. Levi very rarely asks questions and yet he's faster at math and reading than any other kid in his class. Brigham on the other hand asks questions constantly and I can't get that boy to even read the word "was" or "cat" or anything short like that. Brigham talked in sentences before Levi could even say most of the one words that most kids knew at his age....and Brigham is 18 months younger than Levi! It just goes to show that you never know what to expect. We struggled with Levi's speech (and still do) for years and I worried about him being held back but all his teachers would laugh at me now if I told them of those concerns of the past. Brigham came out talking and can only last about a few seconds before he has fallen out of his chair because he is to busy wiggling around and thinking about that toy that Nanny and Poppy got him the night before! We thought for sure that he was going to be our little genius. Well, he may be extremely hyper but he does make us laugh. Levi would rather figure something out before asking us what something means. Brigham on the other hand, well, I thought I would share some of his questions today and end with my personal favorite.

"Why does everyone die?"

"Why do we have brains?"

"What's a stitch?"

"What's a shock?"

"What does properly mean?"

"Does stop it mean, yes?"

David says that Hyrum is going to be a good mix of his 2 brothers. After all, David only has 2 brothers (no sisters) just like our family and was the last and is a really good mix of both Stephen and Rob. I hope he's right!

The importance of the American flag

My Dad is a patriot. I guess most Americans are but my father displays it not only on his shirts, hats, home decor etc... but also in what he teaches his grandchildren. These pictures were taken in June and as you can see in this picture, the American and Oklahoma flags are getting a little worn.

He took Levi and Brigham outside to teach them how to take care of the flags when they need to be replaced. He made sure that the boys never dropped the flags and told them of the importance of why we do all that we do with the flags. As you can see in this picture, he is losing Levi's attention to "Rover" and later tells me when I ask him about helping Poppy with the flags, "It was getting too boring." Gotta love children's honesty!

Poppy was patient with Brigham (Brigham is usually good about sticking things out) and not only showed him how to do it but also let him physically do certain things.


This is why we love Poppy!

Family Home Evening

I noticed something during Family Home Evening tonight. I feel like I'm trusting myself more and more....that I'm becoming the fun mother that I used to be. I'm randomly doing things that I forgot to to do during the last 2 years. I'm having fun with my children. I'm making them laugh without even really trying. I'm just doing things with them that I know they would like and in return I'm hearing more laughter. It feels so good to feel at peace.

Popcorn and a movie

Just a cute picture of the boys watching "Boz" while eating popcorn. I love my baby boys!

Night Swim

I have been blessed with truly wonderful family friends that have lasted through the years. I have known the Gibson family since moving to Oklahoma as a small child. I would see most of them at church but by the time I was in middle school I would see Justin (holding Levi) every once in a while throughout the day, at school. He was the wrestling coach. Later I became a mat maid and wrestling cheerleader and would spend many a wrestling trips with him. My favorite mat maid memory involves him. We were on a school bus with the wrestlers coming back from a meet. Justin was driving and because he knew the back roads, well we took one of them to get home quicker. It was dark and I just remember him yelling "Deer!" and then the bus swerving to use the headlights just so that we could see that deer! I knew then that he was a true hunter! I spent many a summer with Tammy (holding Anna) at Young Women's girl camp. We always knew that if Tammy was coming that year to girls camp that it would be a fun one! She seriously has more energy than most teenagers I know. The Gibson family have since moved to Miami, Oklahoma but those bonds that were made with me at a young age have stayed. They invited us to their family pool party on Saturday and so did Tammy's niece, Kristina (holding Page). Kristina would come to the Gibson's home during the summers and go to girls camp with us. Over the years I grew to really love Kristina. I loved her laughter! I remember missing my school friends during those summer months, before we were old enough to drive. But Kristina became my "summer" friend, I guess you could say. I can remember that when school started, though, that I wished that we went to the same school so that I would see her more than those summers. So it meant all the more to me that Kristina invited me to this family reunion/party also.

I wanted to put this picture on here because it reminds me of Kristina when we were younger. If you were to ask me what I remember most about Kristina I would have to say that all she ever wanted was to be a mommy. She LOVED kids! And true to the Kristina I knew growing up, she offered right away to take my boys down the big slides. Here she is with my boys and one of her girls.

I had to throw this one in because it is humorous to me. Here little Hyrum is with a life jacket on and a floating ring. Pretty safe, huh? Yet he has this huge nasty bump on his head (from earlier that day. Poor baby tripped and hit the side of a book case)!

1st day of school

I have 2 kids in school! It is still weird to me. Really weird. Brigham woke me up at 6 something this morning to inform me it was time to get ready for school. I told him to let Mommy sleep more but I couldn't help but feel his excitement. There is just something energizing about school starting. We live really close to the school but there were a few factors I didn't think about before we headed out the door this morning. 1) I forgot that we would actually be swimming to school in that nasty humid weather that I still can't seem to get used to! Sweat was dripping off my face before we were even half way there. 2) I forgot that Oklahoma doesn't believe in sidewalks. That was fun constantly worrying that the boys were going to get off the grass and into the street which leads to number 3) I forgot that people don't walk to school here. We came from Orem, Utah where there is a school every few blocks. There is no need for school buses because everyone lives so close. People live out in the country here and so there was a lot of traffic to get around.....needless to say, we will NOT be walking to school again!

Ok, so that above section was a little heavy with sarcasm.....not something that I really care for but I have to be honest in telling you that is how I felt this morning. But I soon got over it once inside. David took Brigham down to the ECC (Early Childhood Center) and I stayed with Levi at the Upper Elementary while he had breakfast in the cafeteria. We would have stayed with Brigham but he didn't eat breakfast until later and school was ready to start for him. Grove Schools provide free breakfast which I think is so cool. Levi didn't know what to do so we stayed with him and being the wonderful brother that he is, he gladly shared his food with Hyrum.

Oh my goodness this is the cutest picture! He was so cute with his backpack. Auntie got him a backpack for his birthday because she knew both of his brothers would have one everyday going to school and didn't want him left out. Seeing this little guy with a backpack and yet still sucking on a sippie.....just so darn cute!

Meet and Greet

Today Brigham and Levi got to meet their new teachers. Brigham got to go to preschool last year but this will be his first time going to public schools. As you can see by the look on his cute face, he is so excited! He and Levi are only a grade apart but they are in 2 different schools. In Oklahoma, they start the children at age 4 in public schools! It is crazy to me that they start them so early and to make it harder to believe, they do it all day! Luckily we came a month before school ended, last school year, so I didn't feel pressured into putting Brigham in the 4 year old program. I still don't really like the idea that he is going all day for kindergarten but I do feel good about that fact that he is so excited about it. Look at that face!
Here Levi is with his 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Eberle. I am thrilled that Mrs. Eberle is his teacher! I went to school with Jamie and I associate a fond memory with her. I was in middle school when she came over to my house to help me learn some cheerleading "moves." She was so nice to me and it was the year that I made cheerleader after 2 years of trying and not making the team. It meant even more to me that she would come over and help me when she was 2 years older than me and in high school and yet still took the time out to help this middle schooler out. I guess she was always meant to be a teacher...I'm so glad she is his teacher!

Prophet.....Obama?

The missionaries were over tonight and taught Levi and Brigham about prophets. At one point, Elder Brown asks the boys to name some prophets. Brigham says, "Jonah!" and Levi says, "President Hinckley." So I asked the boys, "Well, who is our prophet today?" Brigham replies, "President Obama?" Some people might think that was blasphemous but I just thought it was hilarious!

Oklahoma City Temple

David and I spent the last 2 days in Oklahoma City so that we could go to the temple. Me being a picture freak, of course I was upset when I realized I didn't bring the camera to document it for our family journal/blog. Well, I found some pictures that described how I felt during most of the trip....HOT! Like Hyrum, I really wanted some ice cream. I'm not a huge ice cream fan. I really only like Braums ice cream and only one thing on their menu; Carmel Pecan Fudge Sundae. It's all that crap that they put on it that makes it so yummy! We left the temple and saw 3 Braums in a matter of minutes but once we got closer to our hotel (about 30 minutes away) there wasn't one in site, of course!

I felt like I drank my weight in water while there. In fact, on the way up, we stopped at a gas station to fill up on gas and instead of buying a bottled water, I bought a glass of ice and a GALLON of water! Did I mention it was hot!?!

I think the 3 faces you see here pretty much sums up the way I felt while in OKC. I felt like Levi in the temple; at peace. I felt like Hyrum outside; dazed by the heat yet a little miserable. And I felt like Brigham: just so happy to be there doing it all with my husband.

What is summer to you?

School will be starting in less than 2 weeks and I noticed a few pictures that I wanted to document before we get busy with school and summer ends.

So what is summer to you? To me it is catching fireflies or turning off your living room lights, sitting down on the couch with hubby and just watching the fireflies light up like crazy.

It's finding nature just outside your house. This tree is in our front yard....yes, full of bees!

We also have a shed that 2 groundhogs live under, that we see daily out in the yard and every once in a while a skunk will show up.

Summer is the plenty of hummingbirds that come back year after year to Grandma and Grandpa's place to get their homemade hummingbird food. Grandpa says that they have so many hummingbirds (up to 10!) because his hummingbird food is so sweet it puts those birds on a sugar high!

Summer is the many parks that the boys and I find to get as much play as possible. I have to admit, though, since being here in Okie we don't do it as much as in times past because it gets so hot!

And now I get to see my children, niece, and nephew do the same thing that I did with my grandpa growing up; making homemade ice cream!
Long are the days of summer when it is hot and humid but there are memories to be made!