Revenge...

Over the past 9+ years, I have had a lot of fun "punking" James with various pranks. I could write a short book filled with all of the fun experiences I have had, and I wish I had them all visually recorded so James could see his reaction. I've hidden dirty diapers in his car, sneaked up on him in the dark and thrown snaps at his feet, put blobs of pudding on his face while he was sleeping, and many others. My favorite was pouring ice cold water on his crotch right after he dried off in the shower - you should have seen the little dance he did slipping and sliding and screaming in the tub!

Surprisingly, James has done very little to retaliate, until yesterday. I was getting ready for church in the very hot bathroom where I had just showered and blowed my hair dry. I was very parched, and asked Paul if he would go get my water bottle from the kitchen. Our house is very open, so I could hear him clearly in the kitchen asking for my water bottle. James refilled it, gave it to Paul, asked him to hurry upstairs with it and told him not to drink any. Naively, I was thinking how thoughtful James was, and that he was really trying to do something nice for me. Paul ran upstairs with the water, and I started to chug it. After I put the water down, I realized that it was nasty salty water! Not wanting to give James the response he was awaiting, I just carried on about my business without a word. A plan was brewing in my mind!

We had an awesome dinner at my brother Caleb and sis-in-law Lauren's house, and I was in charge of the dessert. I had told Caleb and Lauren right away about my plan, and when it was time for dessert - Boston Cream Pie - I generously salted James's piece. Of course, as we sat down for dessert, Lauren could hardly contain herself as we were waiting for James to begin devouring his "dessert". He took a big bite and started laughing like crazy and said "is this from this morning?" What he said doesn't really make sense, but I knew what he meant! I got him pretty good, and we all had some laughs. This morning I opened up the shower door and pointed a squirt gun at James and he freaked out! He knows that more is to come!

Here are some cute pics of the kids for the week:


We had a swing set similar to this one when we were kids. I loved this glider, and so did our boys!






Alanna loves swinging! She was giggling with delight as her hair blew in the wind!

Jackson had to wear Uncle Caleb's shorts. They looked more like a skirt on him, so he bowed a curtsy! Paul and Jackson loved playing Twister and Go Fish with Caleb. He is such a great Uncle, and will be an amazing dad too!

Family Pics 2009...

I know that my page is cluttered with slide shows right now, but I couldn't pick out favorites to post, and I knew my family would want to see ALL of the pictures. So, I thought a slide show would be the best way to present them! Our awesome friend, Kristen, of Sweet Sassafras, took our pictures last Thursday. You can find her blog on my sidebar - take a look at her work! The kids did pretty well, and I thought James did too (although he was dreading it!). As on our wedding day, he insisted on chewing gum throughout our photo session though, and Kristen said there were many pictures of him that showed his bad habit! Thank goodness for photo shop! It was such a fun experience to be outside in the beautiful park and have this stage of our lives preserved.

I LOVE Alanna's dress that was given to her by her Great-Grandmother Perkins when she was born. It reminded me of when I was little and she would send me very fancy princess like dresses, and I couldn't wait to wear them! It was such a perfect dress for her one year old pictures, and the setting complimented her beautifully!

Ideal Beach...

I don't know that we had the "Ideal Beach" experience this past weekend at the Ideal Beach Resort at Bear Lake, but we did try to make the best of the cold weather! It was actually really nice on Friday and Monday, but some of our group missed out due to work. It was so much fun to spend time with family, and my parents were so great to pay for pretty much everything. My mom spent so much time before the vacation preparing wonderful meals, and she spoiled us all with great food and every one's favorite snacks! We even had a Hawaiian themed Luau dinner with a watermelon shark, and glow in the dark straws.Caleb and Lauren brought up a jet ski, and although it was cold, the brave ones took advantage of the water. James had never been on a jet ski, or done knee boarding, but he sure is a fan of it now. We decided we definitely need to get one when our kids are a little older. My mom and dad even went on the jet ski which they had never done before. As always, our kids were spoiled by all of the attention of grandparents, aunts, and uncles. They are all so good about playing kiddie games, building sand castles, and rough housing! It was perfect weather for kite flying, and sitting in the hot tub or sauna! Who would have known that we would experience 50-60 degree weather in August...well we do live in Utah! Anyhow, our kids had a blast and want to go back. Though Bear Lake is amazingly beautiful, I'm a huge fan of warm (hot) weather, and I'm thinking Lake Powell for next time!

Kiddie Quotes...

These are just so cute to me and I wanted to record them for the future...

I asked Jackson if he got into something (DIRT) at Preston's house that was making his eyes all itchy and puffy...

Jackson: "Apparently so, Sarah."

And that has been his word of the week, "apparently". James says apparently very often, so he said he'll replace it with "evidently" and see if Jackson catches on.

Since Jackson has started Kindergarten, he loves to tell Paul everyday that he is a big boy while Paul is still a baby.

Paul's reply: "Jackson, I am turning into a wonderful boy because I poop in the potty, and I pee in the potty."

That sounds like something my mom has told Paul.

To James in regards to the sprinkler pipes he just ordered: "Like your pipes, J-dog!"

Alanna: "ah oh, ah oh, ah oh."

Her first word! She started saying it a couple days ago while throwing food from her tray. It's so cute because when she says the "oh" part, her little mouth curls up into an "O" shape! Now we need her amazing little friend Pyper to teach her all the words she's been saying since she was 8 months old!

Clowns in a cupboard...

This is what Alanna started while I was making dinner tonight, and her brothers were quick to follow! Even though she unloaded the cupboard of all its pots and pans and made a huge mess, I hope this will replace her obsession of climbing up and down the stairs all day long! She does seem to love to wreck any cupboard or closet she can get into these days! And when I catch her, she just laughs like she is being tickled. I get several open mouthed drool filled kisses throughout the day to make up for the mischievousnes

Kindergarten...

My Jackson baby started Kindergarten this past week. He is a very big boy now, and has informed me that most of the things he used to like are for "babies", now. Not that he ever watched Sesame Street, but he couldn't possibly now, and he needs a new Optimus Prime backpack because Diego is for babies too. Preston and Jackson were like two boys headed off for the adventure of their lives, and they couldn't have cared less that they were leaving us behind! One of the best parts is being able to ride the school bus, and they sit in the very back, and when the bus takes a corner, they curl up their legs to their chest and lean into the turn. It is fun to see Jackson so particular about what clothes are "cool" to wear to school, and hear all about the rules that he has to obey. Paul, of course, wants to ride the bus and be in Kindergarten also. September 8, is his first day of preschool, and it's going to be a long month of hearing him ask me everyday when he will get to go to school! I should just make him a paper count down chain like we do at Christmas time! I'm so glad that the
boys have a positive attitude about school and look forward to it. All of this growing up is a little bittersweet though! It seems like yesterday that Jackson was just starting preschool and we were watching them run down the hill with their huge backpacks on. Now those backpacks are just the right size, and now it's embarrassing to get a good-bye kiss from your mother, or a hello hug from your little brother :(

Parents, PLEASE READ !!!!!!!!!!!

My pediatrician has been telling me that new studies show, and the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly suggests that we no longer forward face our babies at one year old. Studies show that your babies are up to 5 times safer during an accident if they are in a rear facing car seat until the age of 24 months. I have been asking around to see if anyone else has heard this information, and I have not come across anyone who has. Anyhow, my good friend Maryann, looked this up on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8&NR=1.

Watching this video made me cry because of the story, and to know that so many parents out there are unknowingly putting their children at risk because they have not received current information, and the laws (UT anyway) do not support this method. Please take the time to watch this video to really understand how your child could be affected in an accident. There are also many statistics included that I'm sure most of us are unaware of about car seat safety, such as in some countries children rear face until 4 years old! My feeling is that any kind of precautions I can take in the interest of my child's safety are worth the inconvience to avoid harm. Our children are invaluable!

BYU Museum of "Art"...

I took the kids to the BYU MOA, to see the Walter Wick exhibit that is being moved today. He is the author/creator of the popular "I Spy" books that my boys love. It was so cool to see how he makes models for his photographs , and we got to search for items in the pictures on display. As we were walking around,

a docent was explaining the background and making of each photo, and I tried my best to listen and found it very interesting. I would love to be a docent someday! Anyway, the boys weren't interested in listening, just exploring on their own. BTW, I wasn't really supposed to take this first picture. I didn't see any "no photography" signs, and a security guard watched me pull out my camera and have Jackson pose for a picture before asking me to put my camera away! She was a little timid BYU student, and it was just a bit amusing!

The boys were really into the modern "art" creations as well. I hope I don't offend anyone, I find modern "art" entertaining, but I guess I'm just too ignorant to see how some of it really qualifies as being a masterpiece for its artist. When we lived in the DC Metro area, James and I actually loved to go to the Hirsshorn Smithsonian Museum of Modern Art and sculpture gardens. So, in the second photo, my kids are standing in front of a sculpture made of blown up black trash bags that are taped together. In the third photo, the canvas is covered in those take out dining tops like you get a Cafe Rio, and then all kinds of garbage is glued on to them. I really wish I had a picture of my favorite though: a canvas covered in row upon row of duck sauce packets from a Chinese take-out restaurant! I'm sure you can picture it in your head though - it doesn't leave much to the imagination. There was also a video on the making of this duck sauce art piece ! I was just wondering if a BYU student collected those packets over a period of time and just snuck some extras every time he dined there, or if he actually purchased or had donated the duck sauce!