July 23, 2012

Growing and Going Too Fast

Benji is growing up waaay too fast.

At mealtimes he refuses to eat unless he has his own little bowl and fork just like everybody else.
He's into EVERYTHING and is constantly climbing on the table, couches, beds, bikes...whatever he can scale. Which could possible explain why he's still only 18lbs 12oz. And the constant scrapes and bruises on his knees. Must be all that running around. 
And heaven forbid someone goes outside and doesn't take Benji along. Tantrum city folks.
Tho no words yet he can sign 'more,' 'all done,' 'eat,' 'chicken' (basically bird), wave hello/goodbye, go get his shoes, give kisses, and shake his head no. I'm working on 'Momma' but that basically looks like 'eat' at this point.
 At his last cardiologist appointment they said his heart looks perfect and we can now go to yearly appointments. YEARLY. 
Even though we love our doctor, I really won't miss going to that office (an hour plus away) every two weeks thankyouverymuch. 
Our very own little superhero.

July 16, 2012

Pine Valley

We spent last weekend in Pine Valley, UT (about 45 min north of St. George) for a family reunion with Travis' family. Most of us stayed in a friend's 'cabin' and it was a blast. With seven kids four years old and under, and three more older all in one house it was a bit chaotic but we had such a great time watching them play together.

The house included a wonderful playhouse and swing set on which the cousins spent hours playing. 
Here Peter and Nate are displaying their bear/fox/coyote/wolf trap they built.

 What would I have done without Little Miss Ali? She always jumped at the chance to feed/hold/entertain both my kids and wasn't seen often without a baby on her hip. She's going to be one incredible babysitter in a few years.
 She even played photographer and took a bunch of pics. Including this one of me & Benji.
 and one of Paxton with his cheeser.
 And then Grandma pulled out the water balloon launchers and the kids (yes, I'm including Travis & Jon here) spent hours shooting balls back and forth across the yard.
 After the reunion, we went exploring a bit around this pretty lake.
Aaaaaand managed to bother many fisherman while the boys tried to skip rocks across the lake.
We also decided to take a 'trail' back that ended suddenly in the middle of the woods and we had to do a mild scramble up the side of a hill to the road, stroller and all. Good times with the Millets as always.
 Peter asked Nate several times when he was going to come visit us.
"We have a special bed just for you Nate!"

 And the Millet crew.
 Pine Valley was practically teeming with wildlife. On our way home from the hike we caught sight of 10 or so deer grazing and the boys just had to stop and take a gander. Can you spot them?
What a wonderful weekend. I just love being able to watch the boys play with their cousins and hang out with our crazy family.

July 3, 2012

Moonsquirters

And the canning saga continues!

Last Friday a lady from our church gave us 75 lbs of tomatoes. 
SEVENTY-FIVE POUNDS.
Have you ever seen 75 lbs of tomatoes? I hadn't. Turns out it's a lot.
(this is actually the pile after I made salsa)
Nevertheless, Trav and I were not to be daunted.
We girded our aprons and set to work peeling, juicing, chopping and eventually canning tomatoes.


Final count: 4 pints of salsa, 4 quarts of spaghetti sauce, and 12 quarts of tomatoes.

For those of you keeping track, that brings this years' grand total to:
12 quarts tomatoes
4 quarts spaghetti sauce
4 pints salsa
10 half-pints raspberry jam
8 half-pints apricot/strawberry jam
5 pints cherry pie filling

The jars all look lovely sitting in my pantry but I think I'm done for a while now thanks.

July 1, 2012

Beachin' it up

Yesterday we spent the day at the beach in Malibu with the young men/young women from our church and we had a blast!
Dude! Travis broke in his new wet suit by catching some gnarly waves on the boogie board.
He also looked rather spectacular in said getup.
I gave my YW full privilege to heckle him as they saw fit.

One of the other youth leaders brought their two little girls so luckily Peter had someone to play with. Although my YW (and YM truth be told) shower him with attention so I think he would have been okay anyways.
He and Lucy had a great time digging holes to China...


chasing waves...
 and getting rides on the boogie board from Daddy.
Mostly they were just silly and entertained each other.
Despite crying almost the entire drive to the beach, Benji did pretty good. 
That is, as long as Momma was within a 3 foot radius and no one took him too close to the water. 
Like I said, pretty good.
My friend Laura was always happy to try and give me a break from our strong-willed little man. 
 Mostly he just hung out in the shade noshing on whatever snacks willing youth would give him. Slick deal in my opinion. 
So much fun!