Getting BIG!

Where did the time go? My baby is getting so big! He is such a sweet little boy. I don't know what we would do without him!!!

Peaches

Peaches right off the tree are my favorite food. They are just like candy. I LOVE a good peach. I do believe that the main reason for this passion for peaches is not only because they taste like heaven, but they always bring back so many memories for me. My Grandpa owned a peach orchard in Orem when I was little. One of my favorite trips to Grandpa and Grandma's house each year was when everyone got together to pick peaches. I was to little so I got to play with all my cousins. It just didn't get any better than playing with cousins with minimal adult supervision and being able to eat peaches until you were just sick to your stomach.

Consequently, when we moved to Syracuse one of my first orders of business was to put in a peach tree. This is our third summer and we finally have peaches. I cannot wait until they are ready to pick. I caught Brock touching one the other day and I let him know how important it was to leave the peaches alone. Those are only for Mom's hands! I have 30 peaches and I am impressed with myself that I haven't named them all.

Playing House

I love to hear Ty and Paige playing together. They like to play pirates, cars, little people, restaurant etc. However, my favorite is when they play house. It always goes something like this:

Ty: Paigey, let's play house. You be the mom and I'll be the dog.

Paige: Okay!

Ty then proceeds to get down on all fours and crawl around the house barking. Paige follows him giving him orders in her sweet little mom voice. Ty usually ends up in his "doghouse" which is some place they have made up.

It always catches me off-guard when Ty says he wants to be the dog. I am always expecting him to say the dad. I don't know if this is something against Cody or just a healthy fear of being married to his sister. Anyway, it makes me laugh every time.

I love seeing them play together. If the moon aligns just right and it hasn't rained recently and it is during the 2nd week of the month Ty and Paige get along splendidly. I treasure those days!

Ty's 4th Birthday

Ty had his 4th birthday on June 25. I can't believe my little boy is 4 years old. He lets me know that he is now big. I cannot refer to him as my little boy without a bit of a reprimand from him. We had a great day on his birthday. Aubree and Sydney came over and we got out the pool. They had a lot of fun playing in the water.

When Cody got home we opened presents and had birthday cake. Ty loves GeoTrax. He has been telling me for quite a while that Alex (his friend) has the airplane. That is what he got for his present was an airplane and bridge to drive it around. We was excited about his presents, but nothing was quite as exciting as his cake. He wanted a Spiderman cake. I am not the best at cake making so I opted for a normal cake with a spiderman toy on it. He could not have been more pleased with his cake. He didn't want to open presents. He just wanted to blow out his candles so he could play with the spiderman toy. He doesn't even like cake. He would be fine with a big spoonful of frosting!

It was so much fun to celebrate him and remember all the wonderful things about him. He is such a good helper. He is getting so he will help me with things and it is actually helpful. He loves Brock so much. I just see a bond there that is so fun. They love to play together. Ty loves Paige even though he says he doesn't, he wouldn't know what to do with himself if she weren't there. They are good little playmates most of the time.

We are so lucky to have Ty in our family. He is a very sweet, good boy that always tries to do what is right.

Brock Walking

The day before Brock's birthday Ty and I went to Lagoon with my family. As we were on the big ferris wheel Cody called me to see how we were doing. He also mentioned that Brock had started taking steps. I told him to stop him right then. He had to wait until I got home. Cody was not about to do that. We had been trying to get him to take steps for quite a while with no luck.

The next day he wouldn't do it. He didn't do it again for a few days but finally started practicing again. Brock was so proud of himself. Within two weeks he was done crawling and only walking. I can't believe that my little baby is growing up.

Camping at Coalville

Growing up we went camping at a campground in Coalville all the time. I have such fond memories of that place. If I ever get skin cancer I will attribute it all to the swimming pool at the campground. I got more that one bad sunburn there. Anyway, Cody and I decided to take our kids camping there a few weeks ago.

The campground we go to is full of RV's. There isn't much but RV's. When we got there we had to stop and check in. I went in and was giving the lady my card and she was filling out paperwork. She asked me what rig we were in. I told her a Toyota Sienna. She asked me again what we were in. I told her a minivan (we had just bought it that day). She looked really confused and said what are you in again. I pointed to the van and said that van with the little boy's head out the window (Ty was a bit excited). Then she said well where are you sleeping. I told her a tent. She said Oh, a tent! It was pretty funny.

We stayed 2 nights with five of us crammed into our 4-man tent. We were nice and cozy. The first night it was kind of cold so Ty and Paige both ended up sleeping in our 2-man sleeping bag with us. We were toasty warm and couldn't move at all.

Becky and Scott came up on Friday and spent the day with us. We went swimming and had a great time. We went and watched them feed the fish at the pond and then ran around taking pictures. Later we built a fire and Scott led us in a campfire program. Trust Scott to keep the conversation rolling and interesting.

We came home pretty early on Saturday because the sky was pretty dark. Thanks goodness because we pulled the last few things in the house in the pouring rain. It was a really fun time. We are going to have to do it again.

Brock's Birthday

June 12 was Brock's first birthday. I remember thinking a year ago that if I could make it through that first year of his life while my kids were so little I could do about anything. I made it through the year and I am just as mean a mom as ever. I guess the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

Even though the last year has not been the easiest for me I wouldn't trade it for anything. Brock has been worth it all! He is just the happiest child. The other day I was doing the boring job of folding clothes while thinking what a boring life I lead and how other's lives are so exciting. Then Brock came in and just smiled at me. That was all it took for me to remember how great I have it. My heart just melted and I had to stop folding clothes and hold him for a minute.

For Brock's birthday we had Cody's family all come and celebrate. We had dinner and then opened presents and had cake and ice cream. Ty and Paige could not wait for Brock to open his presents. They were so excited about it all. Paige kept saying it was her birthday and where was her present.

Brock wasn't too into his cake. Unlike Paige he doesn't always eat everything in sight.

A couple days after Brock's birthday we had my family come and celebrate both Ty and Brock's birthdays. The kids loved the Elmo cupcake cake. The only problem is that the frosting was extremely RED! They were all red by the time it was over. We hosed them off outside and then provided some stain stick for their clothes.

We had such a good time celebrating our little Brock! We love him very much and none of us would be the same without him.

Memorial Day

My dad's birthday is on May 29th. This always makes Memorial Day a great birthday party for dad. This year was no different. We went to Morgan to celebrate Dad's birthday on Memorial Day.

We started out the festivities with the first annual Stevens family tennis tournament. I do believe for anyone watching this was the funniest part of the day. Scott (not a Stevens) did play tennis in High School about 20 years ago. Mom and Michael did not fail to remind us that they both took lessons when Michael was 7 years old (about 30 years ago). Consequently we aren't the greatest players.

Scott was by far the best player. Michael and Dad won the award for hitting the ball really hard and out of the ball park. I won the award for just hitting the ball out of the ball park. Becky won the award for trying really hard to stay under the teasing radar. Cody won the award for staying at Mom and Dad's and reading a book while Brock slept. Stacie won the shopping award. Mom won the award for avoiding the game because there was grandchildren to watch. However, she only seemed to watch half of them. It really was FUNNY. We might start a tradition just to keep us all laughing.

Later we of course had a hot dog roast while the kids played and played and jumped and jumped. We couldn't get Paige off the trampoline. She didn't care if the big kids were on or not. She was going to have fun on the tramp. That night we brought home three very exhausted children.

Bathtime!

I had never put all three of my kids in the tub together. The other day Brock decided to change that. Ty and Paige were in the bath. Brock was standng outside trying to be a part of things. When I turned my head he plunged in clothes, diaper and all. He was just elated to be in the tub with the other two. I have learned that he can hold his own in the tub.

Cabin

A few weeks ago we went to my parent's cabin. We had a GREAT time! Cody and I and our kids went along with my parents and my brother, Michael and his girls, Abby and Rachel.

We had such a good time. We went up on Thursday night. We got there about 9:00 p.m. Ty and Paige were way too excited to go to sleep. They couldn't wait to play with Grandma's "bus" toy. We finally got them in bed at 10:00 p.m.

On Friday morning mom and dad showed up. Then around lunch time Michael came with his girls. The kids just played and played and played. It was one of those vacations that was just so relaxing because the kids played so well together with no fighting and not much whining. They were all just happy to be together. The hardest part was keeping Brock away from the wood burning stove.

On Friday night we had a hot dog roast. Mom, Dad and Michael put stepping stones out to the fire pit because they planted grass. The kids loved the stepping stones and could not leave them alone. We decided it wasn't in our best interest to tell Grandpa how much they played on the stepping stones.

Saturday morning the men went and shot Michael's guns. In the early evening we all reluctantly packed up and headed out. It was a wonderful vacation for our family. Thanks mom and dad for letting us come! There is nothing quite like family!!!

Slide Update

Here is the finished product of our slide. Paige likes the climbing wall a lot better than the ladder. I am just happy she is getting on it without help. One of their favorite things is to take their lunch outside and sit on their chairs on the top of the slide. I hope they get some good use out of it!

Slide

When we moved into our house in Syracuse there were no steps off our sliding glass door. It just led to a little balcony. One of our first orders of business was to build a deck and put stairs on it. I really wanted a slide off the deck, however, we were short on cash so I was okay with not having one.

Right before we finished the deck our friends from Logan called and said they had a slide they were getting rid of and if we wanted it. Of course I wanted it! It wasn't quite long enough to go off the deck. Cody and I were trying to figure out what to hook the slide to and also what we were going to do with our old railing on our "balcony." It ended up that if we turned the railing the slide fit just right onto that. We screwed the old decking on top of the railing and we had a slide. The plan was to use the railing as stairs and they they could play in the shade underneath.

(Before shot. Wasn't my little Ty a cutie! Thank goodness those diapers are gone!)

It worked out pretty well, but it was hard to climb up. Paige loves to go down the slide but it is just hard for her to get up there. She is constantly asking Cody and I to lift her up so she can go down the slide. This weekend we finally remedied the situation.

We decided to make a rock wall climbing area (which we haven't finished) and then put a railing on. Last night we put the rock wall together and then today we figured out a railing and went and bought everything and made it.

Our kids are now loving it. Paige is even going up the rails by herself. She actually has something to grab onto to pull herself up. We had a really hard time getting them to come inside tonight. Hopefully they will keep enjoying it and not get bored with it.

Dinosaur Park

It was such a nice day today that we couldn't just stay home! I took all three kids by myself to the dinosaur park in Ogden. We had a really good time. They were all so good to stay with me and not wander off.

The dinosaurs were really neat and both Ty and Paige were excited until we got up really close to them. They are really large.

In this picture I had to coax Ty to come close to the dinosaur to take his picture. He did not want to get close. I finally went and touched it and showed him that it wasn't real. He finally stood somewhat close to it. As you can see, Paige wouldn't come close. She stayed back and cried until I went and picked her up and carried her past the dinosaur.

Ty insisted on carrying the map the whole way until we got to the park and slides. He had it open and his nose stuck in it the whole time.

I finally coaxed Paige to get in a picture when I showed her the baby dinosaur. However, none of the kids would look at me.

They had a spot for the kids to dig dinosaur bones that Ty and Paige really liked. They also had a museum where you could see the bones for a bunch of dinosaurs.

We had a really great day. I realized tonight as I came inside that we had not been inside the house all day except to eat dinner. It was really nice to be able to spend the day outside!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Between last week and this week we have been doing a lot of cleaning and working in the house and yard. Today we pretty much got what we wanted done and went to run some errands. No Saturday is complete without an errand run to Walmart. While we were there Cody found a $1 kite for the kids.

Because the kids were so excited about the kite we came home and put the groceries away and went right outside to fly the kite. We had a lot of fun flying it and it was perfect weather for it. We started out in the cul-de-sac and then went over to the park so we could really let the kite fly.

Ty and Paige were both able to fly the kite really well. We were actually able to let out all the string on the kite. We were not the only ones there flying kites. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

We Finished!

We finally finished the basement. We got carpet on Tuesday and Cody started moving us in when he got home from work.

First thing to move in, of course for Cody was the bean bag!

It didn't take us long to fill up the space.

Thanks so much to our Dads for helping us finish the basement. There is no way we could have done it without them!