Big baby Case!

Casey (the big guy in the middle) is my cousin. At the last family dinner we were trying to prove that Casey really doesn't scare the kids, he just tries to act tough. Kenadie thought he was funny and was happy to climb up on his lap (after all he had shared some swedish fish with her). Kylie on the other hand couldn't be bribed and is still very much a momma's girl. Casey only adds to the situation by pulling faces to make it seem like he's not able to do the baby thing. Too bad Kenadie wasn't fooled. She was happy sitting there with Casey. Sorry Case, you're just a big pooh bear after all.

School Days are here again!!!

Good luck teachers!
The boys were so excited to go back to school. I am so glad too. Sad to see the summer be over, and for the boys to be gone all day. But at the same time i'm glad to have routine back and the boys to have something to pre-occupy their days instead of hearing "what's there to do?" or "i'm bored". Ethan is in 5th grade this year and Sam is in 2nd. Ryan starts pre-school in another week and he is very excited. The first day back to school ryan was a little confused. He had gotten used to having his brothers to play with all day so when they were gone it was pretty quiet and some what dull. After Ethan and Sam had been gone for about an hour and a half ryan said to me "can we go pick them up now?" We did play some games together and he did get to play his gameboy in peace, so i think he'll get used to it too. I don't know what i will do next year when ryan is gone every day to kindergarten. i'll cry, i'm sure, that my baby is so grown up and that we hit another milestone that we won't hit ever again. But until then i will savor the days i have with him and look forward to the first break from school next week for labor day.

An Exclusive Interview with Ryan Leland Young!

Here's a different kind of tag - it's for your kids instead of you. I've written Ryan's answers exactly as he gave them and have refrained from commenting (sort of).

1. What is something that Mom always says to you? different questions when you go in time out. good job when you clean up your toys. don't forget to go to the bathroom. oh and i love you lots of times.

2. What makes Mom happy? orange and blue shirt, i got it on now. when you do jobs.

3. What makes Mom sad? you missed us when we goa school.

4. How does Mom make you laugh? tickle you. when you tickle yourself. (i was confused when he said that and asked him if i tickle myself, he said no, when you tickle me.)

5. What was your Mom like as a child? a baby. you was a girl.

6. How old is your Mom? 10, 11. i don't know.

7. How tall is your mom? 20. this tall (said as he puts his hand on top of my head).

8. What is her favorite thing to do? eat stuff. do the right things and listen to heavenly father. (i love that he makes me sound like a saint).

9. What does your mom like to do when you're not around? play games, activities, stories, books

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? be famous and good (i don't think he understood this question). cause you are mom.

11. What is your mom really good at? soccerballing, dodge ball, baseball, games, stories, other sings (things).

12. What is your mom not so good at? be bad. you can't win the race.

13.What does your mom do for her job? do the right answer that dad doos and mom doos. when you walk on the chredmill (treadmill) really fast, and sometimes you let me too.

14. What is your mom's favorite food? cereal, yours and mine. chocolate.

15. What makes you proud of your mom? get squishy, like sqeezers, when i was a baby and i was this cute. be happy.

16.If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? avatar and danny phantom, you and me mom.

17. What do you and your mom do together? play games when ethan and sam and dad are gone and read books and do the right sings (things).

18. How are you and your mom the same? we be happy. cause we have lips too.

19. How are you and your mom different? cause i'm a boy. cause i'm little and you're big.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? berry, berry berry, berry, berry, (repeated at least 20 times) much. we love you and kiss you. get snacks for me.

And we tag: Summer, Maguire and Brett, Livvy, Halle, Emma, and any other friends that are available and interested.

Summer Alternitives

lion fish (they have spikes on them if you touch them at all it can kill you).
The day I took Sam to the doctors to get his cast on we had planned on taking the boys camping or fishing or to the pool, as a end of summer last of the freedom celebration. But alas, with a cast none of those things seemed to be the best idea. Even though his cast is "water proof" we didn't want to see how much it would take to make it stink, especially on the first day! So instead we pulled out our trusty summer activity list that we made just before school got out and on that list was the living planet aquarium. Perfect! And to make it just a little bit more fun just for the boys we took them to burger king for "fun lunch". It was really a lot of fun. The boys all loved the shark tank and loved that they could pet some sting rays or manta rays. They got to see all kinds of different sea creatures: 100 year old lobster, a huge octopus, sharks, jelly fish, star fish, etc. They even had a small section that was dedicated to Utah fish, so we got to see some that they could catch if we ever take them fishing again. Ethan got to hold a garter snake too. Pretty good day even though it didn't go as planned. Plus we got to sleep in our own beds that night so i thought it was the best of all the options.
Ethan petting a sting ray.
Ryan watched the sharks over and over and over again, but still would nearly jump when they would come right by the window. this is one of the times that he was watching with out blake or i holding him.

Casting Sam

Being a mom of 3 active boys i am surprised (and knocking on wood, really hard) and lucky enough to say we've survived this far without: stitches, trips to the ER, and broken bones. That is until Sunday. We were over to granma and papa Young's house for Sunday dinner. Sam and the other kids were playing on the play set having a great time. Sam however decided he wanted to see what would happen if he let go of the swing while he was swinging. i had glanced over just a second to see that he had let go but was in the process of turning away when he fell (so i didn't actually see his fall). I quickly turned again when my brain processed what i had just see him doing to see him running with a panic hurt face. He came running up to where i was sitting and had to pass papa on the way and papa had seen him hit the ground so he tried to comfort Sam and rubbed his arm to help him shake it off. Sam was trying really hard to be brave and not cry but as he was trying to get to me and papa had a hold of his arm he tried to pull free saying "i just want my mom!" I knew he was really hurt. Sam's pretty tough, but when he got to my arms he broke down and just cried. I held him and tried to comfort him for a minute before he was ready to let me check his arms out. His arms looked fine and seemed to be ok. He said they hurt and we figured he maybe strained a muscle or two in the landing. He asked if he could just sit in my lap and have me hold him. We sat there visiting and talking for another 30-45 minutes before we headed out. Sam didn't cry about his arms anymore and we went on our way. He said they hurt but they seemed ok. Fast forward to Monday afternoon when i was looking at his one arm cause he was telling me it still hurt some. I was only around his wrist that he said really hurts so i thought that it still could be that he twisted it. We headed to the grocery store to get a few things and it was as we were walking around that i noticed how protective he was about his arm. He was using his whole body to shield it. Then when we got home i noticed that he wasn't putting any weight on it he would hold it close to his body when he sat down. I decided to call the dr.'s office just to see what they would say. I know I'm a paranoid parent and i call at the first sign of a sniffle and cold and i try not to be, but i am. The receptionist that i talked to said she did that to her son and made him wait 3 days before she took him in and it was a small hairline/green tree fracture. She, like myself, and many others I'm finding out, are going for "mothers of the year". The x-ray tech was gone for the day so she scheduled me to bring Sam in Tuesday morning. Sam when i talked to him about it was totally excited about getting an x-ray of his arm. Even somewhat excited that he might have a cast. So to sum it up. His arm was broken, just a small break by the growth plate so it should heal quickly. Sam got to pick his cast and did great holding still all morning for the initial visit with the dr. and for the x-ray itself and then for the cast. He was pretty proud of his cast when we first got home and was showing everyone that would make eye contact with him. Tuesday evening Sam with some remorse in his voice asked "when do i get to take this thing off?" The novelty of a cast wore off really fast. I do have to give Sam a bit of credit--he was really tough and didn't complain about his arm. He only said anything about it when i would ask. And all he would say is that it still hurt some. So even though he isn't really as indestructible as he thinks he is, he is pretty dang tough!

Super-Sam showing he is OOO-TAY (little rascals)!!!

California get away

So after 10 years with kids, we FINALLY got to take a trip just the two of us. Technically we did get to have a 12 hour trip to park city a few years back just the two of us, but it was literally up and back. Anyway we went to California last week to enjoy some time just the two of us. Blake had a conference that he was going to be teaching/speaking at so we headed out a few days before to really live it up. While we were there we went to the beach and to Disneyland and then to the beach again and got to experience an earthquake (5.6) or two (3.4) and then we went to the beach again and back to Disneyland in the evenings. It was really nice being able to have some real quality un-interrupted time together. Sam one of the days we called asked if we were still on our date and i said yep, it's just a really really long date. he agreed. the boys got to stay and granma and papa Young's and to our great relief they all survived and had a great time and granma and papa even said they'd watch the boys again. Blake has to travel enough for his work that we decided we needed to just do this once in a while rather than waiting another 10 years. The boys seemed okay with the idea that we went to Disneyland without them because we brought back souvenirs and promised we'd try and go sometime in the future with them. It caught me off guard how giddy i felt being out on our really long date. I love my boys dearly, but i love my man and loved the time we had together in California. (aaahhhh!) Today (Aug 7th) we are actually celebrating our 12 year anniversary. 12 years!!!! Ethan this morning said "you've been married for 12 years, that's a long time!" We pointed out on the calendar that granma and papa young will be celebrating their 40th anniversary this month too. to that he exclaimed "WOW! that's really a long time!" To that my thought is, not long enough--I am so glad we have eternity!

WWF-Young style

What happens when you put 3 boys (without shirts) on a trampoline and tell them to wrestle to get some energy out......SMACKDOWN!!!!
Actually the day started out innocent enough. Sam had asked Blake if he'd come wrestle with him on the trampoline. Blake was working from home that day and it was getting close to lunch so he said give me a few more minutes and I'll come out. So in the mean time Sam, Ryan, and Ethan headed out and started wrestling on their own, shirtless of course, cause that means you're tough. I was out on the porch reading a book watching and reffing the wrestling match. I came in for a minute to get a drink of water and told Blake it would be really funny if he came running out with out his shirt on to wrestle with the boys. He laughed and went about finishing up his work. I went back out and began reading again and about 10 minutes later Blake came running out to the trampoline with out his shirt and the boys all sprang to life with excitement. I ran into the house to grab the camera and got a slew of pictures to prove how great a dad Blake is. And of course to show off how tough all my boys are. (Some of the pictures are hilarious and catch the boys in mid air.) This will be I'm sure one of the boys favorite wrestling matches ever.

Biking to Bridal Veil

Just a few days after sam had his bike riding skills down we thought it would be fun to have a ride up the canyon. So we loaded up the boys bikes (blake and i were planing on just running along side--plus we couldn't fit anymore bikes in the car). I dropped blake, ethan and sam off at canyon glen and the ryan and i went up to nun's park to park the car and start from there. We didn't know if ryan would be able to go as far as the other two so we thought that would work out better. the boys did great. they love going up the bridal veil waterfall to play in the water. and after a hot bike ride it is a welcome thing to dip your feet in the cold refreshing water. Sam did great and kept up with ethan with out any problems and blake and i even got a semi run in. we will for sure do that again.