At least they're creative, right?

Oh, my kids...I love them but sometimes want to strangle them when I come downstairs to find this in my living room...They claimed to be getting ready for the big softball game. Obviously! When I see mass amounts of kitchen towels, table cloths, a Bumbo, and random baseball bases thrown across a room, I think one thing: "must be time for softball!" I really try to be patient with situations like these because I love that my kids are creative, but did they have to take out EVERY single dish towel I own? It added to the fun that they were using the vacuum's extension pieces as spotting scopes.

Granted, this is better than the time they were pretending they worked at the "sample store" (Sam's club) and took 8 huge bakery sized Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies, tore them into bitesized pieces and then Beck smooshed them into the carpet in the playroom.

Everyday is dressup day at our house. We finally got Beckett some boy dressups for his birthday and love to see what he comes downstairs wearing.

Yeah, London wore this leotard as a cape a while back and insisted we call her "SuperGirl" all day. I got some crazy looks when I took her to the mall...

They may act and look crazy, but they're mine!

Tragedy

I hate phone calls that you know right away bear bad news. I answered one of those calls earlier this morning. My mom called to say that the flight that crashed yesterday in Guatemala was carrying 2 of our friends.

I have had the amazing opportunity to travel to Guatemala a couple of times with a local humanitarian group to perform surgeries and assist in the clinics there. Our local contacts there were an amazing couple named Walfred and Javier. Javier was the local stake president and they are the parents of three beautiful children. They made all our travel arrangements and translated for those of us who's spanish was less than stellar. They were humble people of little earthly means but with an incredible love of the gospel and of their family. I am blessed to have known them, and am devestated in their passing. They were on another humanitarian mission with Choice Humanitarian (a Utah group) when their lives were taken from them. Please keep their children in your prayers.

Our group in front of the Guatemala City Temple: Javier, Dr. Robert Mellor, Heidi Doyle, Walfred, Jilly (my mom) and me.

The Robanalez family

Swim Lessons and the Cherry Hill Incident

For the last two weeks, our mornings have been consumed with one thing: Swimming Lessons. London LOVES the water, so we figured it was time to teach the girl how to swim. She did pretty good, minus the one day she flat out refused to go in the pool (in her defense, she got pretty sick that afternoon), so we'll call the lessons a success. One of the teachers had to hold ber constantly because she wasn't tall enough to touch in the pool where they were teaching the lessons and because of that, she thinks that they liked her the best...Yesterday was her final lesson and Beckett kept busy by wearing her "sparkle shoes" around the pool.

Beck in London's sparkle shoes

Jumping to Carlos in the pool

Miss Paige and Carlos, her teachers

I took the kids to Cherry Hill after swim lessons and for the first hour and a half, it was the perfect outing. We stopped to eat lunch and meet up with my sister in law, Jenny, and her two cute kids. We headed for the lazy river and then to Pirates Cove. That's when the tantrum started. London didn't want to go the Pirates Cove; she wanted to dive in the big pool. I told her we'd do that next, but that apparently wasn't good enough. She went into a full on meltdown and started screaming at the top of her lungs. When I tried to calm her down, she started yelling, "stop hurting me!" over and over. Seriously, to anyone watching the scenario, it probably looked like she was being abducted. Only my kid! After a VERY long walk/drag out to the car, she was still screaming. She fell asleep on the way home and woke up a different little girl. I sat her down and we talked about what happened. I asked her why she kept yelling that I was hurting her. I said, "really, was anything hurting?" She looked really serious for a second then said, "well, my feelings were. That's why I was yelling." She's too much!

Payne Family Reunion

Beck and Grandpa Payne throwing rocks in the river

Friday, my mom and I took the kids and headed up to Rockport (by Jordanelle) for the annual Payne family reunion. Matt, lucky him, had a previous engagement (aka guys night out) and couldn't make it. We usually just go up for a couple of hours or so, but the rest of the extended family is there camping for 3 or 4 days. I'll be honest and say that I wasn't looking forward to this blessed event, but ended up having a good time. Grandma Payne made a yummy dinner and I was able to chat with some cousins that I hadn't seen in years. The kids loved throwing rocks into the river and playing with relatives pets. (I dare say there were more pets there than humans) I was just glad that my cousin Hydee showed up to hang out with us and join together in avoiding certain great-aunts who insist on kissing us on the mouth...Don't you just love families???

London and her Great Grandpa Payne

My grandpa thought giving whistles to my kids was a great idea. It wasn't.

London driving "The Exec," my grandparents' RV

This would be Londy's new "mom's taking another picture of me" face

Blueberry Pancake Recipe

I've been on a major blueberry kick for months now, and I think I've found my favorite whole wheat blueberry pancake recipe! Here it goes:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. oats (I use quick oats)

2 TBS sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. milk
2 eggs

1 c. blueberries

Whip eggs and milk. Add to dry ingredients. Fold in blueberries. Use a quarter or half cup measuring cup to pour onto skillet. My kids go crazy over these, so hopefully yours will too! I'm also in dire need of a great whole wheat bread recipe, so if you've got one that doesn't actually taste like wheat bread, or is really good, please email me! Enjoy!

Summertime Fun Stuff!

Come to the KAYSVILLE FARMER's MARKET!!! Looking for all things homegrown or handmade? Wanting to support local farmers and original craftsman (homemade soaps and scrubs, jewelry, home decor, darling handbags, girls hair and wardrobe accesories, etc)? Wanting a fun and different thing to do with the family?Every Thursday through October 2, from 5-8 p.m. 920 S 50 W, Kaysville, UT (sponsored by the USU Botanical Gardens)

My cutest friend Lichelle has a booth there and has the cutest hats, flower clippies, bows, etc. (all for that little girl of yours) for sale! As you can see above, I (meaning London) was the proud recipient of one of her headbands and several flower clippies when we did our "favorite things" swap! Her products are super cute! Check her out if you're at the farmer's market, or at her website: www.shelbybows.blogspot.com !

Our Week in Review!

So, last Sunday night, our lovely computer of almost 5 years crashed on us again! Annoying! So, we decided it was about time for a new one, and it just delivered today! Hence, my week long sabatical from the world of blogging! Here's a rundown of our week!

London ready for church. I'm having so much fun with my new camera!

Sunday- Beckett's birthday! Church, nap time, then family party! He had a great time! After we sang Happy Birthday to him, he looked over and said, "please sing it again!" So we relit the candles and sang again; 3 times!

Beck getting ready for his party; he's complete with a soccer ball, bat, and one princess shoe!

Getting ready for church

Monday- London had a birthday party for her friend Kaelyn, so we dropped her off in North Salt Lake. After we picked her up, we went to some golf cart place in SLC, because Matt thinks we need a golf cart...We'll see about that one!

Matt and Londy

Getting ready for Kae's party!

Tuesday- Park day; the kids spent the majority of the afternoon playing in a box.

Yep, Beckett is in that box she's sitting on!

Wednesday- Can't remember! But London did come downstairs with one of my bra's on saying that she wanted to "cover up her special places" while we were out! Kind of funny...

Thursday- I took the kids to Cherry Hill and we had a great time! Beckett, following in the crazy footsteps of his sister, asked to go down the big blue slides alone! (London has gone alone since she was 2, also!) He did it, and I caught him at the bottom. He came out without the mat and on his tummy. So cute! When we were on the way up again, he said, "I go with Mommy, not by myself!" After naps, we headed to Sandy for Matt's softball tournament. They ended up having 2 games back to back, and won the tournament! Way to go team BOB! Yes, BOB is the name of their team. It stands for the Boys of Bingham, and he and all his HS buddies have played on a team for years. This is the 4th or 5th consecutive title win for the team BOB! Fun stuff!

The kids en route to the game, and watching daddy play ball

Friday- London spent a lot of the day wrapping Beck up like a "baby burrito" (her words, not mine)

Saturday- Boot camp at the gym (killer) and then my sweet grandparents came on over to watch the kids while Matt and I "rode the river" with my mom, brother, and about 10 others. It was a lot of fun until I almost drown. Not kiddding. I got trapped under a tree branch, lost my tube, and finally Dave and York caught me a little ways down the river. Not the funnest 5 minutes of my life! The best part is that York (my brother) and I were on the last rapids, sort of big ones, and he wouldn't let go; thinking that if anyone were to flip over on these rapids, I would. Well about 2 seconds later, I totally flipped over and he pulled me onto his tube for the rest of the rapids. Sounds okay, except for the fact that we were in a semi-compromising position, and the fact that he is my brother. Yeah, funny after the fact, not during!

So, that's the longest post EVER, about almost nothing! Plus, now I've got carpal tunnel from writing this!