Funny Kids

Over the past month, or so, I have caught pictures of my kids doing funny things:

Flower Feet: We have some fake flowers that Aaron hides for the kids to find each morning. One day June decided that they'd make great shoes. She had them around her ankles & was wrapped in her "Blue."

Rubber Band Bracelets: I went to get June out of her room one morning & she had TONS of rubber bands around one arm & wrist. I apparently had left a bag of them in the nightstand that we recently moved to June's room. Luckily, they were big loose rubber bands, so did not cut off any circulation.

Layers: Another morning, I opened June's door to find her in layers of her clothes & her boots. I'm just impressed that she got all of the clothes on by herself!

Drinking Buddies: This picture just makes me laugh!

Ashes & Soot: The house we are renting has a wood-burning fireplace, and both kids are drawn to it like a moth to light. But most especially Logan. We have it somewhat blocked off with a laundry hamper, but this little guy is determined & always manages to play with the wire curtain that hangs in front of the fireplace. This always gets him dirty, but one day his face & hands got more noticeably dirty & he looked so funny that I couldn't resist the photo opportunity.

They are such fun buddies & constantly

keep us on our toes!

27

I turned 27 a couple of weeks ago (yes, I am very behind on my posts)! Aaron, of course, was wonderful & sent me off shopping (and not grocery shopping) while he watched the kids! It was so nice, & I forgot how easy it is to go places by myself. To top it off he took us all out to Outback for my birthday dinner. The food was fantastic, but our kids decided to be crazy that night, so we had to eat fast & get out of there ASAP (usually they do very well at restaurants, though)! I did manage to get a pic of all of us while waiting for our food, though. Anyway, it was a GREAT birthday, & thank you everyone for the well-wishes. They truly brightened my day!

Older: Definitely. I have grey hairs, & staying up until midnight feels like staying up until 3 AM used to.

Wiser: Perhaps. A few things that I learned in the past year: how to take care of two kids (but still continuing to learn), how hard it is to move with two young kids, what happens when you can't sell your house, how to (& not to) potty train, that the Tri-cities is a fantastic place to live (& has the best parks I've ever been to), that a daily walk helps to keep me sane, that my husband is really the best (but I've always known that), that 2 year olds are hilarious, what plagiocephaly is..............& much more!

Enchanted Forrest

The day before Mother's Day we went to Enchanted Forrest (a theme park in OR), with my mom, Nathan, Darcy & her kids, Angie & her kids, & Collin Creek. June absolutely loved going on the rides & playing with her cousins in the park.

June & Kennady got to dress up & have their pictures taken with Abraham Lincoln

My brother & sisters & Collin went on the log ride. The picture says it all....

I had Logan pose for a couple of pictures:)

Aaron found a new practice.

We all had a wonderful time!

And, on the way home...

Big Haircut

Logan's hair was starting to get a little shaggy, so we decided to give him a new haircut. Aaron has cut his own hair for almost our whole marriage, so he was the one to give the trim. Logan did great & wasn't phased a bit by the trimmer. I, of course, had to take pics:)

Aaron did great, too! Logan went from

This:

To this:

Logan looks so grown up with his new hairdo! I love it though! Aaron is going to have this job for a long time!

Fun Visit

Rob, Amanda, & June & Logan's cousin Mason came to visit! Mason is such a cute little guy & the kids had fun playing with him (as much as they do at their ages). We all took a walk to a park & let the kids play. {Side note: June will no longer go down slides, I've noticed. Every time she comes to the top of the slide she says,"No witches," very matter-of-factly, and turns and climbs down the way she came}. Then we had lunch at the best Mexican restaurant: The Inca! Then, it was nap-time!

When the kids woke up, we got them all dressed in their swimsuits & took then to a different park that has water fountains meant for playing in! This was the first time we'd been there & it was so cool, & I love that it is FREE! Mason was a little nervous about it (but eventually warmed up a little bit), Logan was in awe & would not move (he loved watching the water), & June was as giddy & bouncy & Fast as had ever seen her! We will definitely be spending some time there this summer!

We grabbed some dinner on our way home & ate it outside. & then the kids all had a bath!

The three buddies then went to bed. Then Rob, Amanda, Aaron & I all made Ice Cream Sundays, watched the SNL commercial parodies (very funny), played a very tired game of hearts (I wont say who won...), and called it a night! We had so much fun, and can't wait to do it again!

Four Stevens walk into an Arbys...

This is a trip Aaron recently went on with two of his brothers & his dad. As I was not there I will let him write this post. This should be interesting......

Rob was good enough to set up a quad trip before Paul left for dental school. We all met in Fillmore and off we went.

Points of interest:

1. CPS wisely decided not to bring the trailer and multi-uhaul loads of gear.

2. Paul set a new meaning to the term "splatter".

3. I wussed out, destroyed my machine (again), and got out while the getting was good. Experience readily taught what I should have learned from sound advice. Get a bigger better machine.

4. Rob found out that although 16 MOA reloads really are "good enough" the ones that actually cycle the slide work best in autopistols.

5. CPS brought several items that really did prove useful. That rope came in handy, as did the horse pills for back pain. However, there are no pills to get us through Arby's without incident.

6. Paul showed that a Glock, even poorly shot, beats an XD every time. Maybe the XD would do better with some Eagle Talons.

7. I found out that a machine with no brakes, broken steering, no starter, unreliable battery, a clogged intake, shot transmission, hand-breaking pull starter, leaking tires, and questionable engine mounts floods easily yet is readily fixed by CPS's mechanical skills and prayer at high altitudes.

8. Rob learned not to invite me without a thorough machine check, CPS without a gear check, and Paul without some high-strength immodium.

It was a good time, we all learned a bit for the next trip, and no person or machine went off a cliff.

Success.

Fun on the quad

On our last trip to visit my family we brought our 4 wheeler to ride around my parents place. It was a lot of fun for everyone (except maybe my mom who got a little nervous when my dad took her for a ride...haha)!! Anyway, it was fun, as usual to see everyone. One of June's new favorite people is my Uncle Terry who shared some of his tapioca pudding with her. She now calls the pudding Uncle Terrioca!

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day spent with my family & the Watts family at my parents house. There was so much good food! It's a good thing that calories don't count on Mother's Day! Aaron took all of the kids for rides on the 4 wheeler, and we all enjoyed talking around the fire pit! It was a wonderful day!!