May: 40!, Memorial Day, Max's Recital and More

I am 40!
Several days before my birthday James started the boys on "secret boy-only missions."
They had so much fun and were so good at keeping their secrets.

I was showering the morning of my birthday and could hear the boys whispering outside the door. When I opened the door they grinned and kind of sidled quickly out of the room. I asked them where they were going but they just grinned and ran downstairs. I heard them tell James, "Mom is out of the shower now." Then they come back to the stairs and Max asked, "Mom, when do you think you will be coming downstairs?" I said, "right now," and they both ran yelling to James that I was coming down. They were so sneaky and patient and cute!

They had each made a card for me and gave them to me first.

As always there was carrot cake. But usually it is just a slice and this time it was a whole cake!

Plus Cold Stone. Yummy!

Then the presents...

A month or so ago Max and I were laying on my floor and he was looking at at my bookshelf. He pointed out, "Wow, Mom, you have a lot of books by Nora Roberts. You must really like her." So when James took them shopping in the book section Max saw her newest book on the shelf and wanted to get it. I had had the book on hold at the library for several months and when it came available I picked it up to read. When James saw me reading it he told me about Max picked out the book for my gift.

Later that day Max was sitting on my lap while I was reading it and asked so sweetly and sneakily; "So Mom, how do you like the book you are reading?" I made a really big deal out of how much I was liking the book but that I wasn't going to be able to finish it before I had to return it to the library.
He got the biggest grin on his face and you could see him just about burst with the secret of it all. He finally said, "Don't worry Mom. It's okay if you don't finish it. Just wait until next week. Don't worry."

He was so excited when I finally opened the book!

I have been looking for interesting and unique frames to hand family pictures on the wall. Knowing this, James took Max and Zane to the frame section and let them each pick one out.

You can see their personalities shine through with Max's pick of the calm, solid frame and Zane's pick of the colorful, patterned frame.

They each also picked out a bracelet for me. Zane's pick was his current favorite color green and Max's (as he told me repeatedly) is to replace the brown one they broke almost a year ago.

 It was a wonderful birthday with my three boys!

Birthday gifts from Kimber...

~ Yummy cupcake (not pictured, I ate it too quickly)
~ A super soft blanket in my favorite color
~ Eucalyptus Mineral Bath Soak
~ A pretty silver necklace


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We spent Memorial Day with Grandpa Keith, Grandpa Liddell and the Andersons.

We took flowers to the family graves.

We enjoyed listening to Grandpa Liddell tell family stories.

Afterwards we went to the park and enjoyed time playing with the cousins.

Max and Zane has so much fun playing baseball with their cousins.



Before they headed home the Andersons came over to play for bit.

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Max's Recital

For his Let's Play Music third year recital Max composed his own piece of music. His teacher, Tiffany, took his written notes and put them into a computer program that printed out his musical composition, titled, "Puppies Are Fun." It wasn't required but he even wrote words to go with it.

He practiced and practiced for weeks until he had it memorized. He was the first one to perform and he was a bit too far away from the piano which made it difficult. But he played it beautifully.



James, Zane, Grandpa Keith and I attended.

Mrs. Tiffany (Parkin) has been a wonderful teacher and I have been amazed at all he has learned in his three years with her.



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On Tuesday mornings I take Zane to the community preschool.
During the stories and activities he always wants to sit on my lap rather than on the mat with the other kids.

His favorite part is the craft. He will spend an hour just working on his project; cutting, pasting, drawing, and creating. He is so imaginative and although he will start his project exactly like the teachers; he always takes off creating his own thing. It is fun quality time for Zane and I.

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This crafternoon Aunt Carol, Colleen and Kathy brought things for the kids to make for Mother's Day and Father's Day. Pots for pens and keychains for the dads and vases with flowers for the Moms.
They are so wonderful to plan and provide fun activities for the kids.

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We are getting to know more of our neighbors and having fun playing at their houses.

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At his well child checkup last week the pediatrician showed us that Zane is off the chart tall for his age. We have probably kept him in a toddler car seat longer than necessary. He was super excited for his big boy booster!

April: Fence and Aviary

Zane showing off his Ninja moves.

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Another fun visit to the Curiosity Museum.

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We have wanted to put in a fence ever since we moved into this home. And so we were very excited to arrive home from vacation in Oregan and have a new fence to keep our backyard private.

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We attended the ALPS field trip to the Tracy Aviary.

Max really wanted a picture with his ALPS teacher Mrs. Davies.

Max presented his project on rockets during ALPS class.
He researched; reading books about space and rockets, drew many pictures of planets, rockets, and space and included the information from his research.

Zane's 4th Birthday

Zane started the morning opening his two Paw Patrol toys from Max. A month ago he picked out two of the toys for Max's birthday and told me which ones he wanted for his birthday and has been waiting very patiently for them. After opening them the boys ran off to play with their toys together.

It was a superhero birthday that started with cupcakes topped with superheros and villains. When Zane saw them his face lit up and he couldn't wait to pull them off of the cupcakes and lick the icing off. It continued with gifts including Punching Spiderman, Superhero Wall Stickers, a gigantic Spiderman wall sticker and a collection of superhero and villain toys.

Grandpa Keith added to the party fun with a Paw Patrol Pad for Zane. It was a great gift and the fun quickly turned into ridiculous silliness when the boys discovered it also spoke French, which they found hilarious.

Grandpa Keith also brought party hats and he and the boys entertained themselves with them.

March: Yoga, Max's 7th Birthday, A Vist from Kimber and more...

I love watching my boys enjoy yoga!







They are so intense.

They know so many poses.

Yoga will always be familiar and fun to them.

I love sharing something I enjoy with them.

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We took the boys to LEGO Americana Roadshow.




Giant replicas of the nation's most recognizable landmarks made from thousands of LEGO bricks.

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Max's 7th Birthday
Zane was so excited to give his big brother two Paw Patrol toys.
(He is also very excited to get two more from Max next month for his birthday.)

Max's new room:
- a reading chair
- a beautiful old steam engine picture
- History of Trains poster
- a bookshelf

As requested; a puppy cake!

Grandpa Keith brought a Spirograph and for our Max who loves to draw it was a big hit!

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A Letter To My Chiropractor...

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Max wrote me this sweet letter telling me he hoped I would feel better soon.

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For St. Patrick's Day I made up a short treasure hunt that led the boys to their green baskets.

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I have been anxiously looking forward to this visit from Kimber!

She came to spend the weekend with me and attend the 10th Annual Healthy Woman Event.

I enjoyed showing off my beautiful home to her and talking in-person rather than over the phone.

Our nights' entertainment consisted of a trip to DI, where we found treasures of books, home decor and furniture; a delicious home-made salad for dinner and the delightful movie, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."

She brought me my very own Chocolate Survival Kit! (Kimber gave one of these to Sierra for Christmas and I was envious.) To go along with our Healthy Expo it was filled with tasty yet healthy snacks.

The Healthy Woman Expo was inspiring. We listened to Stephanie Nielson's story through which I shed many tears and was uplifted by her faith. We were treated to lunch, given free items from the many booths and attended a scarf-tying class and a doterra class.

Later that day, Kate joined us to watch the equally delightful "Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."

Afterwards we stood in the theater talking for an hour or so until reluctantly parting ways.

As is always the case I was a little depressed to say goodbye. I love spending time with my strong, amazing, beautiful, inspiring sister. (As well as my equally amazing little sister.)

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During a literature lesson Max and I were talking about the difference between Fact and Fiction. His assignment was to write three facts about someone you know. He wanted to do it himself without me looking and when he showed me what he had written the tears came...
To my little boy it is a FACT that I love him.

February

Once a week Zane and I go to his preschool. Stories, songs, alphabet practice and crafts. He loves the class and the time alone with Mom.

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For this month's ALPS field trip we went to the Leonardo Museum to see the Water Exhibit.

Max was able to do water experiments and build a "steam boat."

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We had a week full of Valentine's fun with little treats and gifts in the mailboxes each morning.
Max loved his newest little puppy dog, which he named "Love."

We attended a UTVA Party where they made silly bags and gave and got V-Day cards.
And of course the finale; following their strings to their gifts.

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We hosted Crafternoon for the first time in our Tooele house.

We made "claydough" cookies which can be shaped and played with just like claydough and are edible. It was a big hit!

Making plastic canvas hearts was a bit nostalgic as I remember being taught by my Aunts and I watched as Aunt Colleen taught Max and Aunt Kathy taught Zane.

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Zane watching shows with Brooklyn and his stuffed friends.

2014 Kids Sayings

Zane and I had had a rough day in which he hit me on the way to a time out. At bedtime that night James must have talked to him because when I went in this is what Zane told me...

"Mom, you can't get away from Karma"...(long pause)..."or germs. But, you get away from germs by washing with soap and water. You get away from Karma by turning your punches into hugs."

Max was having a growth spurt and was complaining that his legs really hurt. One morning when asked to go upstairs and get dressed he said to Zane, "Zane, can you use your little muscles to help my big old achy muscles up the stairs?"

Zane: "My eyes turn white when I am drinking milk."

Zane: "Can you teach me how to sneeze like you?"

October: Max Loses his First Tooth

Max mentioned that his tooth was wiggly. When we looked we found a very loose tooth, but he didn't want James or I to touch it. The next morning it had fallen out and was no where to be found.

He told me that the tooth fairy was just pretend so it was okay but he still drew a picture of a tooth to put under his pillow. I printed a tooth fairy certificate and left him a dollar.

He was excited to see it and we went to the dollar store where he bought bath boats for he and Zane.

Zane didn't want to be left out so I took pictures of his teeth as well.