Build-A-Bear family night!

This week for FHE we went to Build-A-Bear.

Ethan has been so excited to go back there. This January his Aunt Ali took him for his 5 year old birthday. She let him get his bear whatever he wanted, he got PJ's and a stroller. Let me tell you she got some serious points for that outing! Ethan made 'Gerry' with her and his cousin and he absolutely LOVES Gerry. It was fun to see him get so excited over something like that.

Our trip to Build-A-Bear this time was special for Ethan and for all of us. He's been looking foward to this for a while now. This time we went he knew exactly what he wanted to do, what the bears were going to wear, what thier names were going to be, and how he wanted thier names spelled.

Mason was a little spooked by the stuffing machine and the loud noise. He made it long enough to help put a heart in them. They both got to put a heart in each bear. Ethan thought that was pretty cool, but he was confused that the bears had two hearts. He decided that it would be good for them to have an extra just in case one of them stopped working right. We had a great time.

Ethan and his animals!

I have a child who DOES NOT like to go to bed!!! He likes to think up reasons to get out of bed over and over again. If you've ever been at our house around bedtime, you understand I'm sure! Sometimes he will stay in his room and don't worry - he's prepared for what he has planned! He'll steal flashlights and hide them so that when we leave he can do what he wants to do without us noticing a light on. I went in to check on my 'sleeping children' (or so I thought) the other night and this is what I found . . . .

He at least FAKED asleep when he heard me coming back with my camera.

I suppose taking pictures isn't really the way to make him understand that he is not doing what he is supposed to be, but really . . . could you resist taking a picture of all of the animals in the house tucked in into "three layers of bed?" I couldn't either~!

Ethan, You are adorable in everyway. I hope that you don't ever stop doing things like this because it sure makes me smile! I love you Angel Boy!

Finally done with my canning~!

If someone would have asked me even last summer if I would be the type of person who canned food items, I probably would have answered no while laughing at the idea of it! But I have canned the last two seasons thanks to some very helpful friends and neighbors! Last year we just did applesauce and salsa, but this year I branched out to peaches and pears! We have a gorgeous peach tree that went absolutely crazy with peaches this year! We also did peach and strawberry freezer jam!
The only thing that I really don't enjoy about the whole canning process is how HOT my house gets and the HUGE mess to clean up every day.

I'm just hoping now that we actually use it all now!

Elementary School Carnival 2008

Do you remember being in Elementary school and LOVING the school carnival? I know that I sure do!

Anyway, I don't really feel that way anymore! (Do any of you moms out there?) Now that love for the carnival has passed on to Ethan. He looked forward to this thing all week! We had to be there right on time for it to start because his teacher was the first one in the dunk tank.

Of course he wouldn't use any of his punches to buy balls to try and dunk her himself . . . nooo, he just wanted to watch FOREVER! It would have been totally OK for me to stand there and watch all day long, but Mason HATED the school carnival this year. He screamed from the second we entered into the crowd. If you look closely you can see what a good sport his teacher really is. She wore a bikini over her shorts and shirt. Ethan thought it was hilarious when someone would hit the target and she would go down. It was pretty funny!

After a few games and a lot of wandering around watching we went over to the train rides. I decided to send Mase with Ethan so that he could do something besides the fishing pond thing. That wasn't really the brightest idea of the day. He screamed a lot from what I hear. Ethan was so adorable with him and calmed him down and sang to him the entire ride.

After the train, Spen got there and he and Ethan did the carnival boys style while I took Mase home to play. I hope that Ethan has as good of memories of the carnival days as I do, and I feel bad that my parents had to endure that for soo long! Thank you mom and dad...

FHE

Last night we had such a fun Family Night.

We had some things to do in Salt Lake, so we decided to spend some time with the kids at Temple Square.

I have never really spent a lot of time there in the warmer months! We go every year to see the lights and walk around, but it's always so crowded and freezing that we don't usually just enjoy time there.

It was such a perfect evening. It wasn't hot or too sunny. The temple was gorgeous. Ethan was fascinated learning about the construction and the huge stones they brought down.

Mason was so happy to be outside walking around. He would giggle and scream his 'happy screams' as we walked. He did not, however, like it when we would stop for any amount of time!

Ethan absolutely loves this sort of thing. He didn't want to leave. He could have spent hours wandering around the plaza.

He was fascinated with all of the water fountains and features. Of course he had to touch all of them! (He nearly fell in a few times!)

We did something that I have never done before, we toured the Beehive house.

It was pretty cool. The Sister Missionaries that presented the tour did a very good job. Spen and I couldn't figure what it is about him, but Ethan absolutely loves guided tours! It was such a great night together. Definitely a night I'll remember forever...

Our Family Garden

We were so excited this year to plant our very first real family garden! Spen and Ethan made the grow boxes and we planted all of our seeds when there was still snow on the ground. It was so incredible to watch our little plants grow. I have to admit for all of us, it's become sort of an obsession! We are ALWAYS walking over to see how the garden is doing. We got a bunch of stuff, but I think mostly we learned more about what to expect with our yard and we will be more prepared next year. There aren't many experiences quite like eating dinner from your own garden grown from your own seeds! Most of our flowers came from seed too. Ethan helped me plant all of them. We have had such a good time with it. It's a great way to encourage vegetable eating around here too!

Matching yet again!

This must be the new thing at our house. It seems to be happening every night lately!