my kids, lately

Summer is half over and we are still keeping busy. Here are a few pictures and stories of some of what we've been up to lately.

We went up Provo Canyon one evening with my parents, sister and brother-in-law, to have a picnic and take a short hike to some beaver dams. When we got to one Jeremy just kept on walking, straight into the water in his tennis shoes. So then I sent the kids in too, but as you can tell from the picture, the water was freezing! I love that Tyler has his tongue out in this picture.

Ryan dipped his feet in later. So far he's shown no fear of water, which is good but also a little worrisome. Jeremy's mom took all of her grandkids to an aquatic center last week and Ryan went under the water at least 7 or 8 times, and that was with me watching him like a hawk. Each time I'd pull him out of the water, he'd blink and spit and then keep on playing like nothing ever happened.

Speaking of Ryan, he's a little crazy. He wears me out with his constant movement, but is still the cutest thing ever. Judge me if you want, but I've discovered that sugar in some form makes him sit still and quiet for at least 3 minutes. This time it was a chocolate covered pretzel.

Do you like see-food??

Back at the end of April, Tyler and I planted some flower bulbs in our planter box. We planted them at the very end of the season, so we've had to wait until now for them to blossom. It's been fun for Tyler to water them, watch them, and wait for the flowers to show up. I haven't ever really grown anything before, so it's been fun for me too.

And apparently growing flowers is enough work for me, because the lawn has suffered. I apologize to my neighbors who overlook our tiny, pathetic backyard. We obviously need a sprinkler system badly because we suck at hand watering.

Any mom knows that kids are good for keeping you humble and letting you know what you're good for. Tyler did this last week when he--very seriously--asked if I was ever going to die. I told him that yes, someday I would. He thought for a minute and then with a concerned look on his face said, "Well, if you die who will make me breakfast?". Now I'm afraid to teach him how to pour his own cereal and milk for fear of becoming obsolete.

Lastly, today at the grocery store the cashier gave Alexis a bunch of stickers. This store never has kid stickers, they only have ones they put on food or bags, but they always give some to the kids. Today the stickers said "All Natural" in big bold letters. So Alexis put one on her chest on the right, gave one to Ryan, two to Tyler and then put the last one on her chest also, but this time on the left. I took one look at her two strategically placed "All Natural" stickers and had to keep the laughter in. I love the innocence of children!