What do you do in the winter time when all the world is depressed?

I believe that when God created the world he made February the shortest month of the year as an act of mercy. If I was big into winter sports I am sure that I would feel differently but I am not and I hate being stuck inside- worse having my kids stuck inside because it takes an army and 45 minutes to get them dressed appropriately to go outside in the weather. Yet I do love that half way through the most horrid month of the year there is a wonderful holiday to celebrate how much we love each other. I do love valentines day. I especially love it now that I have kids and get to celebrate it with them. We don't do anything huge but it is a fun food holiday! I made the cheesecake for Josh (although I think I ate more of it than he did!)

Monday was presidents day and we wanted to get out of dodge. This is when I realized that having a holiday in the middle of winter wasn't too fun unless you had money to go spend. We didn't so we decided to take the kids to the free aquarium aka Cabellas and then to Thanksgiving point to see the barn animals. We had a lot of fun!

My cute boys!

Are they in jail or just in a cage like the monkey's they are?!

We had a fun day and Turner has been asking everyday to go see the animals. I love spending time with my family no matter what time of the year it is!

It's time once again for the KYCA {weekly} report

This week I think I am just going to go off on a tangent so feel free to just look at the darling pictures of my darling boys and count it good. When I was in High school I use to get a ride to school with my Dad on most days. We were very lucky to live in a rural town in Arizona and have the privilege of having release time seminary. Yet in order to participate in release time seminary we had to go to school an hour early and take a class they called "early bird." That was the official name of the class period. It wasn't bad, it was usually full of the LDS kids and the over achievers. Then there were some who fit into both catagories (Aaron Menzer you know who you are) We only had a hand full of classes to choose from because what self respecting teacher wants to wake up and be teaching at 7am? Well, the bus route didn't run that early so I had to be taken to school. On the way into school my dad listened to talk radio KYCA specifically and they always said "it's time once again for the KYCA morning report." Well, there wasn't any traffic to report in my small town and very little news but somehow they found things to report and I can remember some of the news stories and local commercials. Prescott was this little oasis snuggled in the mountains of Arizona. It was a great place to grow up and someday I would like to find a similar town to raise my little family in. For right now though we are in Utah and I am learning all the time ways to love it here. I have grown a lot since the last time that I moved here. I don't know if that has been time, my environment or becoming a mom.

I have learned a lot becoming a mom yet I know I still have more to learn. I am not talking even about the big things, I really want to know some of the basic things. Like how do I really child proof my house now that I have 2 kids. It is so much harder because with Turner all I had to do was keep everything off the floor that he could choke on, lock the cupboards and cover the outlets. Now he can reach and climb and is such an explorer. I am not so worried about him but I am surprised that Max is still alive. The first incident happened not too long ago when I had got the febreeze out and left it on the night stand. We were leaving to go to an appointment soon and I ran down stairs to get something. I of course made sure that the baby gate on the stairs was latched and Max was were Turner couldn't get him. All of the sudden I heard Max crying and I rushed upstairs to find that Turner had soaked Max with the febreeze. He couldn't reach him with is hands but he sure could reach him with the spray nozzle of the febreeze bottle. I had to tip Max over the sink and run water over his eyes for 15 minutes. Tell me if you think that went too well with a baby who is upset? Luckily the worst that happened was that Max's skin got really dry but he was OK. The next MAJOR scare (mind you there are 10 minor scares a day) came a few weeks later when I decided to press my luck and hop in the shower. Max was secured in the high chair and I was only going to jump in and out. Well when I jumped out Max was fussing and ready for his nap so I went to get him and he had some fruity stickiness all over him. I was curious as to what in the world it could be since I didn't feed him anything like that. I then went into my bedroom and found a puddle of the same stickiness on the floor. I instantly recognized the scent as fruit flavored infant Motrin. Max had woken up in the middle of the night and we thought maybe he was teething (no he wasn't- 10 months and still no teeth.) and I guess in my grogginess I didn't put the lid back on so that the childproof lock caught. Again I found myself watching them closely, smelling their breath and making sure they didn't have any weird behavior changes. This morning was the worst of all though. I really want to know, how is a mom suppose to go to the bathroom? I seriously just ran to the bathroom really quick so I thought it would be safe to leave Max on the floor- wrong think again! We had been taking pictures of the boys this morning and I made sure my camera was out of reach but Turner got into my bag and found a bottle of hand sanitizer. He squirt most of it on the floor but he also decided his brother needed sanitizing. It was all over his head and chest. I smelled his breath and it smelled as if he had eaten some. I know you all got that email about those kids that died from licking their hands after their teacher put a glob of sanitizer on them. I panicked but somehow had enough sense to tell myself that it probably was nothing. I watched Max closely and sent Turner to his room. He seemed normal after a while and I decided that it was going to be OK. I know I probably should have called poison control but I didn't. These are only the major chemical issues, not to mention all of the body slams and "hugs around the neck." I honestly am so surprised that Max is still alive. Not to mention his own doing. Yesterday was first blood (besides induced by medical professionals.) He has now started to pull himself up on things. We have a polished stone fireplace and he was standing at it yesterday and feeling all proud of himself when he lost his balance and smacked his toothless mouth on his way down. It tore the piece of skin between the lip and the upper gums and cut open his upper lip. Oh it was so sad for me and for him. Yet it was nothing an otter pop couldn't fix.

little of this and a little of that

Josh goes to school on Tuesday and Thursday nights so after the kids go to bed and I am left alone I have to think up things to do so lately Thursday night has been my "update my blog night." That tends to make it a little bit of potpourri.
Last Sat. we had a surprise party for my mother in law's 50th birthday. We meaning me and my lackeys- Josh has one brother and that is it; so I am the only girl in the family besides my MIL so I planned it and the boys were very helpful and did what I told them. The theme was 50's- because she turned 50... and she was born in the 50's... you know. Here is a picture of the cake that I decorated-

It is suppose to be stacks of records. It ended up looking a bit like Mickey Mouse because of the way I had to put the cakes on the board. Despite that, I was pretty proud of myself. Here is a picture of her walking in- not surprised.
Turner ended up ruining that before she walked in. We held it at the church and we had him meet her at the door and hand her a blindfold and say come follow me. Well, he was very good and followed directions very well but then she asked, "Where are we going?" And again he was very obedient and said "GG's birthday party. There is cake and balloons and people." He continued describing the party in detail until they arrived at the appointed door. Regardless of the surprise buster, I think she still was very pleased with the event.

This morning I left my little babysitting charge sitting in his bumbo chair while I got my kids dressed for the morning. I listened to him chat away happily from the other room when all of the sudden it got a little too quiet. I walked in to check on him and found him sleeping soundly in his chair. He didn't hardly wake up when we peeled him out of his seat and put him to bed. (Yes peeled him out of the chair- he is 6 months and weighs over 20 lbs. He is a snug fit in the chair.)
I realize that most of my pictures of Max are in his high chair but that is when he will hold still- that kids is such a mover. As you can see he is enjoying "real people food" and refuses to eat anything out of a jar anymore. He turned 10 months last Sat.! He is into everything and hates to be put on the floor- he wants to stand. He has such a fun sense of humor already and laughs when he knows he is in trouble. He is such a cuddler! and when you pick him up he always just snuggles into you. He subscribes to the philosophy early to bed and early to rise and is a very light sleeper. We have had the boys sharing a room thus far but it looks like we may have to separate them as they don't take naps very well together. I really just don't want to have to pick up and heat another room- yeah I am lazy and cheap like that.