Best. Gift. Ever.

Randy's aunt & uncle gave us a night's stay at the Zermatt resort in Midway as a graduation gift. Randy's parents watched the boys for us and we had such a relaxing time. Very much needed!

When we dropped the boys off, Josh went straight for Grandma's arms; when I went to give him a goodbye kiss, he pushed me away. I come second when Grandma is around.

Hide in the Sink

On our camping trip this weekend, Andrew was inside the tent while Josh was just outside of it. Andrew said, "Let's play hide-in-the-sink," and then proceeded to cover his eyes with his hands and counted to ten. Too cute.

Perfect Fit

Josh, where's your belly?

Where's you nose?

And if you ask him where his eyes, mouth, ears, etc. are, he'll still put his finger up his nose.

Me? A Homeschooler?

When Andrew was a little thing, I had a neighbor that lived across the hall. She had two kids and one on the way. That in and of itself was impressive to me, but she also homeschooled her oldest; she made me tired just thinking about it! From the very beginning of my motherhood career, I never once entertained the idea of homeschooling my children. In fact, I think I was actually looking forward to the days when all of my children were old enough to leave the nest and I could have the days to myself again!

As Andrew got older, I decided I wouldn't send him to preschool when he turned three because I didn't think it was necessary. But I FOR SURE would send him the year before he started kindergarten. I also didn't want to do an at-home-co-op with other moms because 1) it looked like a lot of work and 2) I'm not a huge fan of watching other people's kids. Let me explain that a bit, I like kids, I really do. Just not unruly kids that annoy me.

However, the summer that Andrew turned three, some moms in our neighborhood asked me to be part of their co-op preschool. Two of them were teachers, so I figured Andrew would get more out of this co-op than with just me at home, so I signed up. It was hard at times, but we had a lot of fun, Andrew learned tons, and I'm glad we did it.

Andrew is now almost four and he has one more year before he starts kindergarten. And can you believe it? I'm not sending him to preschool! It was actually a very tough decision for me, but when push came to shove, Andrew made the final decision. I actually signed him up for preschool. It was a great preschool right on campus. I heard nothing but wonderful things about it. But when I took Andrew down there to pay the deposit, we took a gander at the classroom he'd be in. I told Andrew that this would be his new classroom. And he said, "Mom, don't leave me here." He was panicky. I was panicky. It was not a good thing.

So I did some research, lots of talking it over with Randy and the ladies on the playground (and some prayer), and I decided to keep him home for another year. We're actually going to do a co-op with three other moms, it all happened so perfectly and I'm really excited about it. We're also going to try something new this year, we're subscribed to a preschool curriculum:

They send you the lesson plan each month with book lists and the materials for all of the art projects. It looks so fun (and hopefully it will be easier on us teachers).

Another motivating factor for homeschooling Andrew this year is the money. In our city, preschool for 3 days a week is $180/month! We can get the curriculum above, a family pass to EVERYTHING, lessons, supplies, and we can go on cool field trips around the city for less than half that price.

Plus, I get to spend one more year with my baby.

And little brother can tag along.

Andrew is getting a head start this summer with his Summer Bridge Activities workbook. If you're looking for something educational for your kids to do this summer, I highly reccomend this book.

**author's note: I know it looks like we're always doing some fun activity and that my boys are always educationally engaged, but trust me, they also watch lots of TV.

The Monkey is Four

Andrew is a lucky boy. His birthday has always landed on perfectly beautiful days. We invited the neighborhood friends to have cupcakes, popsicles, and sprinkler fun today....

Happy Birthday, sweet kid.

Fun facts about Andrew:

• He's all legs and arms
• He's still obsessed with the color red
• He can write his name with no assistance
• He loves playing games & putting together puzzles. It has become part of his bedtime routine
• He is obsessed with "growing up," he talks about it almost on a daily basis. He says he wants to stay "medium" (brother is small, mom & dad are large)
• He knows the colors of the rainbow in the correct order (ROYGBIV)--I have no idea how he knows that
• He is very protective over his baby brother--so watch out!
• He also tattles on brother (a trait I'm grateful for when little brother is dumping water out of the tub)
• He's better with the computer than I am--he loves computer games
• His favorite TV show is Sesame Street, his favorite movie is Monsters Inc.
• When we go to the zoo, his top 3 requests are to see the elephants, tigers, and snakes
• He hates soccer, but he loves swimming & T-ball

When I asked Andrew what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he had only two stipulations:

1) It needed to have "letters" on it and
2) It had to have 4 candles

(Thanks Andrew for keeping your standards low, you'll never be disappointed in life with that kind of attitude.)

So we went to my favorite cake website and picked out a cake. Andrew helped me with the whole process (and boy is it ever a process, why can't I just go out out and buy a cake like a normal person?) and was so excited with the end result:

He guarded it with his life and made darn sure brother didn't go near it.

We had his party with our family, a fun tradition we've done since his first birthday

This is his cheesiest smile yet.

His one and only birthday request was "Geo Trax." It takes up his entire bedroom, but both of the boys LOVE it. The first day we had it set up, they took turns every two minutes (I had to set the timer, and yes, Josh screamed for an entire two minutes until it was his turn again).

Overall, I think we had a fun and successful fourth birthday.

The Grocery Game Re-Cap

We just finished our 12th week doing the Grocery Game. They say it takes about 12 weeks to see your grocery spending go down because by then you'll have a good stockpile started. We do have a good stockpile--I now have the challenge of finding room for it all! Here are our stats after 12 weeks:

Cumulative savings: $1050
% saved: 41%

(This is for all food, diapers, cleaning supplies, cosmetics, toiletries, etc. that we have spent in the last 12 weeks)

I'm happy with where we're at, and I think there's still room for improvement. In the beginning, I was hoping to get to 50%, but now I'm shooting for 45%, I think that's more realistic for us.

I also was referred to a great website that doesn't charge a membership fee: http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/. I use both the Grocery Game and this website. It's a fun little hobby for me and I love that we're saving money!

Want To Know How To Make God Laugh?

....just tell Him your plans!

We got a fatherly pep-talk from our Bishop yesterday in Sacrament Meeting. Why? Because our ward, that once housed 50-60 families will soon become 30 families with few prospects of any additions. The Bishop told us that many of us would have multiple callings, that presidencies may need to operate with one less counselor, etc. Sheesh! And we thought we were taking the easy road by staying in student housing! The Bishop's words today were very comforting, though. This whole situation (a change in "vision" of the University's master plan) has stressed me out a bit (ok, a lot), but I think this small trial will put us to the test and show us what we're made of. Bring it on!

I Chose Wisely

Driving back home from spending time with our family, Andrew urped (that's Randy's word, I don't know if he made it up, but I like it) multiple times in the back seat. Amazingly though, we still had smiles on our face when we finally arrived home. Randy is just that kind of person-you just take one step at a time and realize "it is what it is." The boys adore him and so do I. Happy Father's day Randy, we love you.

Our Summer Agenda

I thought this summer was going to be boring. Randy is studying for Step III of the boards and he starts his residency in July. Well, now we've got more to do than time to do it!

Firstly, we got family passes to:

Red Butte Gardens. We love this place, it's practically our backyard and we can walk there. They have a children's garden with a splash pad; it's a crazy beautiful place.

This Is The Place Heritage Park. We got a pass 50% off. We can go on train rides, pony rides, and there's a petting zoo plus lots more. We've been twice so far and haven't even scratched the surface.

Hogle Zoo. The boys (including Randy) love it. They just built a new carousel which I'm excited about.

Raging Waters. We've yet to use our passes. It's been a strange summer beginning, but I hear it's going to be in the 90's all next week.

We're also hoping to make our way to our favorite camping spot:

Hobble Creek Canyon. The place where Randy proposed to me.

And we're crossing our fingers we'll make it to Powell for a few days:

And in between, there's the summer reading program at the library. Every time we read, Andrew gets to color in a "reading bug", and every time we have 18 bugs colored, Andrew gets a prize. We've been reading like crazy around here!

We also have a 10-day vacation planned. It's far, we have to go on a plane, and I'm nervous about bringing my children, but I can't tell you anything more about it (it's a surprise, shhhh!).

He Fought The Battle (and lived to tell about it)

One of the things I love about Randy is his desire to set lofty goals for himself. As soon as medical school was out, Randy was in the gym or swimming pool training for his first triathlon. He was dedicated and trained 2 hours a day, 6 days a week. He has always been in good shape, but the added training gave him extra muscles and more definition (a benefit I sure didn't mind). He chose the Battle At Midway Triathlon, the course is a 1500 meter swim in the Deer Creek Reservoir:

A 22.9 mile bike course through Heber & Midway:

And a 5.92 mile run through Soldier Hollow:

Here he is, almost there! Aww, he even looks for us and waves...

And he still has enough energy to strike a pose...

Almost...to...the...finish...line...

Oh, woops! That pesky red carpet--it'll get ya every time.

Maybe it wasn't the graceful finish he'd envisioned, but it was a finish just the same.

Randy's uncle Lewis participated as well. And I sure am glad that Lewis lives in Midway, and that he leaves his house unlocked even when all 6 members of his family are away. It came in handy when Josh puked the SECOND time on our way to Midway. Yes, it was quite the day for us.

We're so proud of you Randy! Way to go!!

Flashback Friday: Our Big Comfy Blue Chair

When we moved Josh into Andrew's room, Randy asked if I wanted to get rid of the blue chair. It takes up half of their room, precious space for a dresser or something else more useful. I admit, I did give it a moment's thought. Extra space is a precious commodity in our tiny, 2-bedroom apartment--we're literally busting at the seams. But I just can't give this thing up...

Our first place as a married couple was an old Army barracks house that was turned into three apartments. We had a huge living room...with orange carpet....and no furniture to fill its ugliness. I don't know how I let Randy get away with this, but we never did buy furniture when we were first married. His parents gave us a new bed as a wedding present. Randy's grandpa gave us an old card table & chairs and a white vinyl lounge chair. Randy's aunt & uncle pawned off a desk that had been passed around within the family (it's actually quite beautiful). Our TV (given by Randy's parents) rested on an ice chest until my dad gave us a TV stand he had stored away.

Our comfy blue chair and our couch (our very, very, very ugly couch) was given to us from friends that took pity on us and our bleak living quarters. We shampooed each, covered up the couch, and we were happy. Well, I was happy, I don't think Randy minded watching TV from the floor. The couch has since been disposed of and replaced, but we have hung onto the chair. It turns out that this chair is perfect for rocking babies to sleep (and it's quite possible to sleep yourself). You can watch countless hours of TV while consoling a colicky baby in this chair. It's the perfect size to hold two children while reading bedtime stories. It's also a great place for a two-year-old to take a nap in when his toddler bed gets boring.

So even though it would be nice to have the extra space, our big comfy blue chair is here to stay.

And when I'm rocking my boys while singing songs and reading bedtime stories tonight....I'll be happy.

Now Accepting Applications

A Best Friend position has just opened up; here are the qualifications:

-Must be able to be contacted at all times, whenever I get a whim to talk to you
-Must know how to take care of crying newborns when I am too tired and frustrated
-Must be able to talk sense to me when I have illogical ideas; must be forgiving when I say/do something dumb
-Must be confident, have strong opinions, and know exactly who you are
-Must have excellent taste in fashion, both in clothing and home decor; must let me steal your good ideas
-Must go on shopping trips with me and help me to justify expensive shoe purchases
-Must be excited for me whenever I'm excited about something, and show interest in my latest project, great shopping find, etc.
-Must be able to cook well and bring my family yummy treats whenever you make them for your family
-Must be available for outings with our children to fun & new places. Must also be available when we go play at the playground
-Must love Dr. Laura, Jane Austen, fudge brownies, and kettle corn. And most importantly, you must love being a wife & mom

If you meet ALL of these qualifications and are interested in the position, please contact me.

You've got some big, fashionable, shoes to fill.....

Medical school wouldn't have been as wonderful (or as bearable) without this girl. I will miss her terribly.

Mr. M.D.

It's hard to believe. They let this goofball...

... become a doctor!!!

In true, doctor's wife fashion, I hauled the boys on and off the shuttle, and wrestled with them in the nosebleed section of Kingsbury Hall...... thus, we got a very lame picture of Daddy being hooded and receiving his diploma.

Take a good, long look because this is the last time you'll see Randy in a graduate robe.

The B-Teamers (minus 1). We have a reunion planned in 10 years. Hopefully by that time we'll have our training finished and our loans paid off.

I remember when my mom graduated nursing school; I wanted my boys to be there for this big day.

We are so proud of you Randy!!

Flashback Friday: My Friend Heather

Heather is a good friend from back home. She's genuine and so much fun to hang out with; we had some good times together back in the day. When she got married and I moved to BYU, we lost touch. Then came the invention of blogs and another friend from back home told me she found Heather's blog. I emailed Heather, then she called me; we had a nice catch-up conversation over the phone and decided to get together this week at Thanksgiving Point. It's amazing--it has been almost a decade since we've seen each other--we've each had struggles and triumphs over the years--but mostly, we're pretty much the same:

From left to right: Heather, Tanya, Me. This was taken sometime in 1997 on a road trip we took to Salt Lake City. Who knew I'd call that city my home years later?
And here we are today. She has a girl (who was at school) and two boys. We both named our first sons Andrew (& Tanya named her first boy Andy)--coincidence, not planned.
On that same road trip to SLC, sparks flew from Heather and Chris....

....they got married and made babies...Our Andrews
And Ethan who found a mud puddle much too tempting.
We had a fun time playing at Thanksgiving Point. Here's Josh on his very first pony ride.

And here's Andrew on his very first pony ride.

(We tried ponies once before, but he didn't want anything to do with it)


I'm so glad I found my friend and I hope we never lose touch again...

Field Trip: Hogle Zoo

The boys (& Kassie) enjoyed the zoo for their final field trip of the year:

Kyle & Josh kept each other in good company. Kyle was nice enough to share his lunch.