8.31.2014

Miscellaneous

Time for the random pictures that didn't fit anywhere else. Here are the miscellaneous pictures, in no particular order, from July and August.

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We went to Tucker Hiatt's birthday party and gave him a pile of Airheads because I babysat him one day and he refused to eat anything and kept saying, "I'm starving for an Airhead!"

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Declan is growing up way too quickly. He wants to do everything himself. He has the cutest little piggies.

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I took the boys straight to the library after working out and Declan was all tuckered out. He never falls asleep in our arms anymore. It was so precious.

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We spent many days playing around outside. 

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Or playing around inside. 

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 Why is a little kid drinking out of a straw so cute? I love the little lip pucker.

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Edison had a milk accident which I made him clean it up. He acted like it was the end of the world.

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Mother of the year award. I imagined it would feel differently.

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Family Skype that I love so much.

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I love cabinets getting emptied. I put everything in there so they can empty them again. It's so fun!

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Declan trying to blow up a balloon and poop simultaneously?

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Declan takes after Alex and eats apples almost completely.

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Alex and Evalet's masterpiece. Evalet's mom told me that one day she sighed and said, "Alex gave me flowers. He makes me so happy."

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I have no idea why I took Declan to the park dressed like that.

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Alex is always creating something.

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Declan! Stop the climbing!

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A new park had a grand opening so we went for hot dogs and face painting.

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We have a weekly play date at the park with friends. They miss playgroup because they are in school so these play dates make it so Alex can still see them.

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Sam found this old computer game and played late into the night. For only two nights. Thank goodness.

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The weather was so nice so we set up a table and ate many dinners in the garage.

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 We went to Tyke Time at the ARC and had the place to ourselves.

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The boys found the tiniest of frogs in our front yard and it became their best friend.

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Edison looks a lot like Lightning McQueen!

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Sam had to go to Girls Camp to be the Priesthood holder there overnight so he took the boys to camp with him.

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A rare play time where no one was on top of another person.

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The best view is from the sill.

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Sam took the boys to the Guns vs. Hoses (police vs. firemen) softball game.

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Squeezing in for a walk where they do very little walking.






August Dates

For our August date, Alex and I went to dinner and then went to his preschool open house. It was so cute to see him discover a new place. But he was not nervous. I love that he is not scared of these things. He just does his thing and doesn't worry about what other people think about him. I have so much to learn from my children.

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He was very concerned that his new preschool would have a cool down chair like his old one. It does not and he is very happy about that!

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Sam and Edison went to buy some hardware that his bed was missing. After that, they went to the store and bought a toy. That is all Edison ever wants to do. It was another successful month of dates.

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8.30.2014

Alex's Painting Party

Alex loves painting and asks to do it very often. He used to ask every day but I think I crushed his painting spirit a little because I do not allow him to paint every day. It is so messy! I proposed the idea of having a painting party to him and he was all for it. First thing was to make the invitations. Normally I make digital invitations but I wanted to give the paint splotches some dimension so I made them with real paper during nap time one day.

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Alex painted names on most of the envelopes for his friends. My favorite is Collin's. I asked Alex what was written under the name and he said, "A cross. So Collin can think about Jesus." It was hard for us to narrow the invitees down to only six (plus Alex and Edison) but I really wanted the party to be manageable and I wanted the friends to be Alex's age. This was our first party where the parents dropped off their kids and it was a huge success.

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I wanted Alex to be involved in this party as much as possible so I got food markers and had him decorate his own cake. He made a very awesome Batman on top.

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I bought a newsprint roll from the local newspaper for $5 last year. It has lasted for more than a year and I use it for everything, including wrapping gifts. I stapled strips of it to the top of the wall in the garage and then splattered paint and scribbled all over it.

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Alex got to work coloring the party favors.

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The night before the party, we finished setting up the garage and Sam hung up tablecloths to block all of our garage-y stuff that lines the walls.

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The next morning, I made the food and then headed out to the garage for the party. It was so amazing that I did not have to worry about having a clean house.

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About two minutes before we were expecting guests, Declan walked over to the tablecloth and ripped it down. So Declan was banished to the stroller and Sam climbed the ladder to re-staple.

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I was very specific about having eight kids at the party. But five minutes before the party, I learned that one boy was sick and would not be able to make it. I was pretty bummed because I had made Alex cut other kids off of the list.

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As the kids arrived, they put on aprons and got to work painting bags that eventually became their party favor bags.

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Alex


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Evalet

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Dahlia

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Tucker

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Edison

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Kaleb

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Jiahs

After they decorated their bags, I gave them each a canvas to paint. It was so cool to see the different things they each did. Some kids covered the entire thing with paint while others did a few lines and were done.

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Alex's friends brought him such amazing gifts. They really knew what he would like and brought those things. It was very sweet.

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After presents, we had cake and ice cream.

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Then they painted the driveway with cornstarch paint that I made way too runny.

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Before the party animals went home with their parents, I made them show off their masterpieces.

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Their party favor bags had their aprons, watercolors, palette suckers, paint spill puzzles, and they of course took their canvases home. I liked that their party favors were things they made themselves.

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Alex is such a crafty, fun little boy. I was happy we got to celebrate his 5th birthday in a way he loves and grateful his friends came to party arty with us.

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The aftermath...

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Alex immediately wanted to play with his gifts so over the next few days we played a lot of mad scientist, he painted his little car, and Batman zoomed all over the house.

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