Snapshots of Summer Fun

Playing in the "sand dunes" at the Children's Museum

Fill bucket, dump, repeat...30 minutes of uninterrupted fun.

Little firefighters in costume and truck at the Children's Musuem

Ezra found this awesome tree on a mountain hike

Enjoying the great outdoors at 9600'

Homemade fishing poles and good fisherman squats--no fish

Primary temple trip and some of our favorite friends

Birthdays, etc.

We had a busy week.  Labor Day family BBQ and Grandpa John's birthday, first day of Ezra preschool, Ezra's fourth birthday, second day of Ezra preschool, and a marathon doctor appointment day for the kids.  In my spare time I painted the garage door, the front entrance/porch area of the house, and painted more kitchen cabinets (the unfinished part from six months ago).

I am so pleased to report that Ezra had a glowing first impression from his new preschool.  As he bounded out the door after his first day, with a big smile on his face he said, "Mom, my teacher is nice, and the kids aren't scary!"  Hallelujah!  My Ezra-boy seems scared of his own shadow some days, so meeting--and liking seven new strangers is a BIG deal for him.  His second day was equally positive, in fact, he asked me twice on Friday when he got to go back to preschool.  It is hard to fathom that he can be so contented after the knock-out-drag-out fight we had last year with his very informal preschool friends group, but, obviously, he has found his good fit.

Maren had her #2 birthday a few weeks ago, and Ezra had his this week.  It is birthday season here at our house, so I will share their birthday celebrations together.  When I was growing up, my mom made a special request dinner on our birthday; I decided to continue that tradition in our family.  Maren and Ezra requested the very same thing this year: homemade macaroni and cheese and a fruit bowl.

Maren isn't much of a cake eater, so we put two candles in a bucket of strawberry ice cream, and she was tickled.  Ezra had a very specific request for a very special birthday cake.  He is enamored with ocean life right now, so he asked for a chocolate cake with an iceberg, icy ocean waters, and lots of cold-water sharks and whales, and if possible a narwhal.  I had fun creating his request, and aside from the narwhal, I nailed it.

Ezra and the shark cake, he was so pleased!

Maren (non-cake eater) loving her cake-on-a-stick

No surprise here, Ezra's favorite gift was the $6 tube of sharks

Grandma joined us for Ezra's birthday and had a few belated Maren gifts too.

Maren's birthday ice cream

Maren was VERY focused on her birthday ice cream

Maren--and Ezra (by association) got an IKEA kitchen for her birthday

Sweet Reward

 I haven't said much about the garden, but it is thriving, despite a heat wave/drought after our early summer flood.  Our late summer garden is not a very pretty thing--everything is overgrown, partially covered in powdery mildew, and limp from the baking sun, but productive.  Pictured below is a sampling of the first tomato pick, as well as a few squash, cucumber, and zucchini.

Dallin thought it might be fun to try an heirloom black tomato this year, and it is the hardiest and happiest of the lot; it will soon be as tall as him.  The heirloom black aren't quite black, but more of a purple-green, and truly melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  We planted the yellow pear again, and it gives us cups and cups of sweet treats.  We also have two different types of cherry tomatoes, one of which makes fruit the size of a golf ball, and wonderfully juicy.  
 

My Little Miss!

Maren Marie is TWO years old! 

I wanted to celebrate her special day by documenting some of her cute mannerisms.  She has become much more verbal in the last six weeks, and is able to communicate fairly well in a monosyllable style.

For example, she might say the following: "Mommy come.  Boots me.  Wee-wee.  Help."  (Interpretation: "Mommy come with me.  Help me put my boots on.  I want to go on the swing.")

Or this one: "Daddy come.  See room.  Pretty.  Ezra, me.  Wow." 
(Interpretation: "Daddy come with me.  Do you see the family room?  It's so pretty because Ezra and I cleaned it.  Wow!")

Or this one: "Mommy!  Ezra no-no.  Boom me.  Sad me."
(Interpretation: "Mommy, Ezra hurt me.  I'm sad.")

Maren has never used her own name.  She refers to herself as, "Me," and when she describes her actions she uses that pronoun with it, "Sleepy me."  "Happy me."  "Pretty me."

She rarely ever uses the word, "yes," even if the answer to a question is in the affirmative.  Instead, she communicates her approval with "Huh."  So, people who talk to her, but don't know her well think she is hard of hearing (he he).

"Maren, do you like to play outside?"
"Huh."
"Do you like to play outside? (a little louder)
"Huh."
Puzzled looks and knowing giggles from Mom follow... it is just one of her funny quirks.

I hope Maren doesn't hate me later for this, but I think the moment is precious: fancy free with her favorite pink boots--and little else, watering the vegetable garden.  We love our sweetie girl!

Summer Highlights

We have had such a great summer!  The best part was spending lots of time with both sets of grandparents, many aunts and uncles, and most of our cousins!

In mid-June we saw my six siblings, my parents, and my niece and nephew in Utah.  In late June, we met Ian for the first time, and spent a few days with Rhys and Liz.  We attended the wedding of a close family friend, and saw more extended family on Dallin's side.  Reva and her kids spent nearly a month at Grandma Roslyn's house, and we had many opportunities to socialize with them while they were here.

Here are some of our summer highlights with family:

Family camping trip at Redman Campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Camryn and Ezra in the meadow next to the campsite.

Judd & Camryn (Utah cousins) with Ezra & Maren at Grandma's house

Celebrating the marriage of Dustin & Liliya at the Salt Lake Temple

We got to meet Ian for the first time!

Playing with the Wisconsin (in-transit-to-Texas) cousins at a water park

Hanging out in downtown Golden at the favorite ice cream shop

We celebrated three upcoming birthdays for Forster (almost 6), Ezra (almost 4), Maren (almost 2)

Brother & Sister

I haven't taken many pictures this month, but I did catch this.  Ezra and Maren are trying to love one another, mixed with a lot of screaming and crying too!  I am grateful for this photo on those days when sibling love seems hard. 

And I am grateful for encouragement like this: 

"God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were.  He cares that we keep on trying...A [Latter-day] saint is a sinner who keeps on trying." --Dale G. Renlund

"One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final."  --Thomas S. Monson

As the Toddler World Turns

Family dynamics are an evolving, living, moving reality.  And, as our toddler dynamics go, we are taking a turn in a not-so-pleasant family dynamic.

Little Maren seems to have turned a new leaf that has left me struggling to adjust.  She has never been a great sleeper, but lately, the bedtime/nap-time routine has become traumatic.  She doesn't want to put on pajamas, she won't let us touch her teeth, she thinks she needs four glasses of milk, and twelve songs, and even if we give what she asks for, most every night she screams for an hour once she is in the bed and the lights are out.  About four nights in seven, she also wakes up around three in the morning, mad, thirsty, and not a bit sleepy.  We circle the house, we sing songs, we get milk, and then I pass out on her floor exhausted praying she will just give it up and close her eyes.  Sometimes we repeat our cycle again at four in the morning.   

She and Ezra share a room and miraculously, Ezra is sound asleep within the first five minutes of her bedtime screaming banter.  (Bless him!  He has always been an awesome sleeper.)  And, most of the time, he sleeps through the middle-of-the-night vigils too.  But, of course, he is up and perky at 6:30 or 7 am, well rested, and interested in having breakfast with me and Maren.  Maren gets woken up earlier than she ready for, and the over-tired emotional toddler has a rough day too...again and again.

The good news is it's summer, and we have had lots of cousin time, and pool time, and park time, and children's museum time, and ice cream time, which equates to a few hours every day of quality distraction.  The other good news is these cycles are just that--cycles--and we will move on to some new, uncharted challenge sooner than later.  So, in a nutshell, we aren't getting a lot of quality sleep over here, but we are soaking up our share of Vitamin D, and consuming a good deal of ice cream.  Huzzah for summer!       

Update on the Little People

At almost four and almost two, Ezra and Maren are both such a joy.  I am trying so hard to live in the moment and love these days of little people--especially before school and soccer and Scouts and ballet interrupt us.

EZRA

Ezra is conscientious, attentive, imaginative, and deep.  I have been drawing a lot lately, and he has taken to it too.  He is fascinated by ocean life, particularly sharks, whales, walrus, and penguins.  Most his art projects involve shark depictions.  His "shark" is a circle with many, many horizontal lines for teeth, and two large bug eyes.  He loves to play games with letters, such as saying a word (milk, starfish, asparagus, etc.) and then he tells me the letter and the sound it makes.  When we read, Ezra will sometimes pick out familiar letters, such as "Mom, that's 'E' for Ezra!" 

We are at the library every week, and drag home at least thirty books every time.  He combs through the entire stack in the first day, and then spends the rest of the week carefully re-examining his favorite ten.  All of our reading has given Ezra quite the imagination.  In his play, I hear little snippets of ten books, either by way of character names, plot or conflict.  It is highly entertaining.  He has also started making up his own songs and belting them out at the top of his lungs when we swing in the backyard.

He takes an interest in cooking, yard work, and all living things.  His new favorite toys are screwdrivers, pliers, C-clamps, shop vacuum attachments, bungi cords, and safety goggles.  The garage and the tool shed are way more cool than any inside toy.       

Learning the gospel is a continuing hunger for him.  Ezra has deep spiritual wells, and truly needs to hear the stories of Jesus every day.  Recently he has said such things as, "Mom, I feel so good when I read the Book of Mormon with you!" and "Mom, you are a good lady, you read me scriptures!"

Ezra tends to be measured, logical, and the voice of reason with his play group.  He is fun, but only if he has silly friends, otherwise he can be kind of serious.  Ezra is good at being an oldest child!  He understands the rules, and likes to make them clearly understood.  He continues to be wary of any new experience, but is also developing more courage.

MAREN

Maren is fun-loving, wild, hyper, and very aware.  She has a lot of gusto for life.  She screams with delight at the splash park and at the sight of any park.  She is quite adventurous.  She climbs, scurries, and explores at rapid speed.  And, oh is she Miss Independent!  She wants to brush her own hair, put on her own pants, put her own dishes in the sink, and climb into her own highchair.  At the pool, she has no fear.  She refuses to hold our hand, and wades right up to her chin with enthusiasm.

Maren has a just a handful of words, but uses them with great purpose and force.  If she is pushing the stroller on a walk, and I am in her way, she will belt out, "Mommy!  Beep-beep!"  If Ezra offends her, or does something she knows is wrong, she hollers, "Ezra!  No no!"  At long last she has discovered the love of reading, and asks to have the same three board books read twelve times with, "Mommy!  More read!"

Maren has a strong personality, and can be intense in her emotions.  She has a great capacity to love and to feel, and shows an intensity of compassion.  For example, recently at the park one of her friends fell and got hurt.  With a real keen sense of urgency, she dropped what she was doing at the other side of the park, and ran to her little friend, wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her on the cheek.  On another occasion, one of Ezra's friends hurt her head in the bathroom at church. When Maren saw her coming down the hall crying, she ran to her with open arms, and gave her loving pats on the back.

Ezra rarely had tantrums, but Miss Maren has some intense angry outbursts, and usually humor is the only thing that breaks the tension.  She adores Ezra, and will share nearly everything with him, if she can sense it will help him feel happier.  She is extremely loyal to Ezra.  There have been times when she hears Ezra ask for something from another room, and Maren will use all her small girl resources and powers to go and find it and bring it to him.   

Dinner Teamwork

Tonight, around dinnertime, Dallin was browsing my recipe book for an appropriate option for his Sunday night meal.  Ezra was nearby and noticed an intriguing recipe featuring pasta and bacon.  He had strong feelings about the recipe, and had a great desire to make it for dinner, so he and Daddy made it together!

Ezra does take an interest in cooking, but has never been so focused in the execution.  I think it had a lot to do with one key ingredient--bacon.  At any rate, Ezra was grating cheese, adding milk, stirring pasta, and sprinkling in green onions and bacon.  It was a true father-and-son effort!  I was so pleased to see his interest.  Of course, he was so proud of his contribution and soaked up the positive feedback like a little sponge.  Three cheers for Daddy and Ezra, the heroes of our Sunday dinner!

Ezra and Maren chipped in together to help me make brownies after dinner.  They each took turns adding an ingredient, stirring with their whisks, and then licking them when the job was complete.  Hooray for teamwork!

Memorial Day weekend

We had a great four-day weekend for the Memorial Day holiday (Dallin took Friday off too).  We took advantage of the time and did a new family activity every day.  On Saturday, rain notwithstanding, we took a nice walking tour of downtown Golden, had lunch in a local sandwich shop, and then took a drive on the scenic Lariat Loop byway up to the top of Lookout Mountain.  The byway has a speed limit of 20 mph, and 15 mph on the hairpin turns, and it is an appropriate speed given the great quantity of bikers who traverse the road in all sorts of weather.  At various points along our slow ascent, it was pouring rain, and these hardcore bikers were still out--and loving it.  We also saw at least a dozen deer browsing the mountainside in mother and fawn groups.  The views were fantastic on the way up, and at the summit.  Our scenic drive took us up in elevation about 1700 feet, and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees.  When we did reach the top, we dashed to the edge of the cliff, snapped a few pictures and ran right back to our car.

        

Grandpa Visit

My dad came to see us for a quick weekend visit in April.  The highlight, I think, was our visit to the Museum of Nature and Science.  The last time I went was when Ezra was a baby, and Maren wasn't born.  It was about time we went to see it again!  They have made some nice improvements since our last visit, especially for kids.  The museum now has an entire Discovery Zone wing devoted to younger children (0-8) with nice sensory activities involving water, digging, building, climbing, and experimenting.

I think, though, Ezra and Maren were most enamored by the North American animal displays and the Prehistoric Journey (dinosaurs).  I can't imagine how impressive a moose or a brontosaurus must feel when you are barely two feet tall!  Grandpa especially enjoyed the Gems and Minerals section.  We loved having a jolly Grandpa Scott at our house for a few days!

Spring Garden

Spring garden crops, in early May BEFORE we had a week of rain.  The broccoli is literally twice as big now.  Peas are already sending out their tendrils and climbing the wire trellis.  The green onions and leeks in the background survived the winter and are putting out flowers.  I hate to cut them back-- even though they getting tough--as they are covered with honey bees most every day.  I do love to support the local pollinators. 

Temple Site

On a recent Saturday we took a little road trip to see the new temple site under construction.  The Fort Collins Temple is scheduled to be completed sometime next spring, probably about this time next year.  We will be in the new temple district, so we decided to check on its progress.

The drive to the new temple will be about the same as our current drive to the Denver Temple, but the traffic route is so much nicer.  The highway is rarely ever congested, and the scenery is pleasant.  I was surprised to see the temple spire from the exit ramp!  Construction seems to be going well!

Ezra was excited to see the temple--and the building equipment.  The new temple sits adjacent to a chapel that happens to look very similar to ours.  He and I used the restroom inside the church, and then came out the south doors that look out at the temple.  It was a surreal feeling to walk out of what felt like our chapel, and see the temple on the other side of the parking lot!  Ezra noticed it too.  "Mommy, the temple came to our church!"

After our temple site visit, we spent some time in Fort Collins, which always seems to put Dallin in a peaceful, reminiscent mood as he remembers his college days.  We found a terrific park, played awhile, and had a picnic.  It was a perfectly lovely family day.

The Busy Month

Hmphf...a month has passed since my last blog post.

All I can say is spring and I have a love-hate relationship, and while I relish the newness and warmness of spring, it has a tendency to put this gardening girl into a whirr of activity to keep up.  I have to beat the heat, so all the hard labor gardening projects need to be completed before June!

Since my last post:

• I acquired a small quantity of retaining wall blocks (40 lbs each) and built another raised bed for warm season vegetables.  Yes, yes...that would be in addition to the two existing 20' beds already built for vegetables.  Sharing vegetables is one of the ways I try to be a good neighbor, and we often have much to share.
• I (tried) to solve a drainage problem by diverting water to a little runnel and then built up a short wall around it for asparagus.  The little canal has been filled in with good earth, and one year old asparagus stock was planted on April 1.  Asparagus does not start producing until it is 3 years old, but we are looking forward to that time!
• The early spring crops in the two main vegetable garden rows were also planted April 1.  This year I am trying broccoli, and so far so good!  It rained for a solid week at the start of May and has been cool and overcast ever since, so my plants are doing marvelous.  I anticipate a BUMPER crop of kale again--it is hardy vegetable even at 2" tall. 
• Our backyard is overflowing with landscape rock of the 1-2" variety, but also has an abundance of interesting boulder-size geological specimens.  I picked the most interesting ones and build another rock wall raised bed for a perennial flower garden, which is something I have hoped to plant for years.  It is in!  I selected a dozen or so of the sun-loving, long-blooming types, and hope to attract many a butterfly.
• Oh, and I forgot to mention that we brought in 2 yards of good garden earth for all the new planting beds, and another yard of well-mellowed compost for the existing garden beds.  One wheelbarrow full at a time...
• Dallin and I worked for the better part of two weeks with a pick axe at intervals (long enough to rest sore muscles) on the LAST tree stump in the yard.  At long last, the Siberian Elm stump has been removed.  Please folks, don't ever plant such a tree in your yard, especially 10" from your AC unit!
• I dug a foundation for a shed, then we brought in a yard of road fill, and then we laid concrete slabs on top the road fill, and then we built a shed.  
• We built a shed--it really needs its own bullet point.  Dallin hopes to never, ever, ever do that again.  It took 8 hours--enough said.  
• And finally, we found a very cheap play fort on Craigslist, we rented a U-haul to pick it up, we mended the poor broken thing, made a "kid zone" area and are currently in process of assembling it.  It is still in need of a several more repairs, but it much more stable and play worthy now.

Whew.  That was my month.  I have pictures, and good arm muscles. 

Perennial flower garden bed with rock wall (to the right of our back door).

Raised garden bed: future home of warm season vegetables (to the left of our back door).

Foundation for the garden shed.

Garden shed in process.

Grandpa Time

Grandpa John spent Easter weekend with us, and I caught two cute Grandpa-Ezra moments on film.  They are definitely of the sharing variety.

Ezra--lover of books and story-time--requested that Grandpa read a few.

I especially like the picture above, because if my Dad were here (and he is coming next weekend!), he would have requested the very same thing.  Ezra was happy to oblige, and Grandpa was pleased to get a little head massage. 

General Conference Favorite

Last weekend was truly lovely, and hard to beat:  Easter and General Conference in one weekend. Grandpa John was also here visiting, which was a treat.  We don't often get a visit from just him, and I think the kids got to know him a little better one-on-one. 

Sunday morning we sat around the breakfast table and had a wonderful talk about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and then we discussed the unique opportunity of seeing Thomas S. Monson on the television screen.  Ezra was beyond excited, and was thrilled when the Prophet's face did appear at the pulpit--brief though it was.

One of my favorite moments from this most recent General Conference came in the Sunday afternoon session.  Maren was upstairs napping--and Daddy and Grandpa might have dozed off for a bit too--so it was very quiet.  Ezra sat snuggled next to me listening (mostly), and then a member of the Seventy named Kevin W. Pearson started speaking and Ezra was suddenly fully engaged.  I don't imagine Elder Pearson intended to appeal to a 3.5 year-old audience, but he completely captured Ezra's attention.  My sweet Ezra boy was hanging on every word, and with great excitement would repeat back to me some of his many memorable phrases, such as:

"Satan has powerful tools, Mommy!"
"Lehi!..The tree of life!"
"Don't forget to pray, Mommy!"
"We need to stay on the path, Mommy!"
"We need to stay by the tree, Mommy!" (repeated at least three times)
"The Book of Mormon--every day!"

Being a mom has many rewards, and they are usually in the quiet moments of the day when the still, small voice of the Spirit can touch my heart or my children's heart--or both.  Ezra and I had one of those sweet mommy-son moments as we heard truth together.  I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Making Connections

I think Ezra has recently made an important connection.  Based on his outward actions, he seems to have figured out this important truth:

"I have an incredibly loyal, darling friend and sweet sister when I help her feel safe and happy.  When I don't help her feel safe and happy, she doesn't want to be with me, and then I'm lonely."

Ezra and Maren have recently improved their quality and quantity of together-play time.  There are more moments of giggling, holding hands, cuddling, and kindness.  There are even some sweet moments of unstructured collaborative fun between the two of them that is not initiated by me.  What a beautiful pattern! 

When Ezra and Maren are well-rested and fed (otherwise all bets are off!), they are genuinely pleased, even delighted to be together.  Sometimes, if Ezra gets a little rough, and Maren is on the verge of abandoning him, he will shower Maren with loves and apologies to encourage her to stay.  "Ezra," is almost always Maren's first word when she wakes up in the morning.  She truly adores her little brother, and Ezra is beginning to truly adore his little sister.

These few pictures from the past two weeks are just a glimpse of their deepening sibling bond.  And I couldn't be happier!