Zachary: 2 Years Old

Zachary at 2 years old.

Weight: 23 lbs. 3 oz. (1st percentile)
Height: 32.5 inches (15th percentile)
Head: 48.4 cm (40th percentile)

Took his shots at the doctor like a champ. Loved smiling for the camera as long as there was a ball or mitt in sight or in hand.

A Rocky Start

As you know, Brielle started kindergarten this year. She was very ready and very excited to start school. She fell in love with her new teacher, Mrs. Warr. Mrs. Warr was a grandma and had been teaching school for over 20 years. She was fun, sang lots of songs and definitely knew how to handle all those new little school kids.

We had heard that Mrs. Warr got liver cancer at the end of last year and missed the last two months of school for chemo. She was back though and seemed quite ready to take on a new year of school. Brielle was with Mrs. Warr for the first two weeks, but then in week three she started having substitutes. The school sent a letter home telling us that Mrs. Warr's cancer had come back suddenly and she was starting chemo again. So sad. That Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Warr passed away.

It was so quick that all of this happened. Brie was very sad. They sent all the kindergartners home with a framed picture of Mrs. Warr and she slept with it every night. She also prayed for Mrs. Warr and her family in every prayer. It really affected her even though she was only with her teacher for a couple of weeks.

There has been a substitute teacher since the third week of school while they searched for a new kindergarten teacher to take their class. A new teacher started this week. I was helping in the classroom yesterday and the teacher seems young and new, but full of energy and happy to be there. We really hope she is a great new kindergarten teacher for Brielle this year. It's been a rough start.

A Quick Look At Fall

Fall made it to Utah for a short time before those beautiful colors were covered in snow. I kept eyeing all the yellows, oranges and reds on the mountains and was quite anxious to get up there. So, we went.

A couple of weekends ago our friend Clair invited us up to her cabin in the mountains. It was me, two friends and each of us have 3 kids. So, it got kinda crazy, but it was definitely pretty. I headed up to the cabin to join them on Sunday afternoon just after finishing our Primary Sacrament Program, then a hyper, wild 2 hours of Primary, then Ward Council and then a Scouting meeting. I started out tired, so it was fun to just sit and talk with friends while our kids ran wild.

Movie and pajama party at night. They were SO EXCITED!

The sun came up the next day and they were everywhere. 

We went for a "hike" to see the horses and the river. Oh, and the stinging nettle.

 

Zachary and Joshua throwing rocks in the river or sometimes at the girls. 

Marissa saved the day rescuing Brie's shoe that went floating down the river.

 

 And the moms who braved it all - Jen, Clair and me.

Last week things were really looking colorful and I just had to check it out, especially because I knew it would be snowing the next day. The kids and I drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to walk around Silver Lake. It was spectacular. Really. And cold. Really. Can you see that storm rolling in?

 

Apparently a little too cold or distracted for a picture.Silly me.

 

 

We came right home for warm soup, hot chocolate, cozy pajamas and bedtime. The next day was a snowstorm. So glad we made it just in time.

What Else Can We Put In A Bottle?

I have always wanted to can/bottle my own fruit. I thought it was hard. I didn't know how. I didn't have a canner. So I never did it, but every time I tasted a friend's canned pears or peaches I was reminded how delicious they are right out of the bottle. Soooooooo, this year my friend Clair and I planned a "canning peaches day" so that she could teach me. I went to the fruit stand and bought my peaches from Brigham City and went to the Farmer's Market to buy a box of pears.

It was so easy. Scott was here helping, the kids watched a show and we peeled, sliced and sealed until we had a counter full of bottles done. I was sold. Rama offered to give me her Canner (with a price tag from 1971) and I spent last week canning. I feel so "Utah". I did more peaches one day and then spent one whole day making and bottling pear sauce and pears. The pears are sooooooooooo good!

Now I'm ready to put anything I can get my hands on into a bottle and seal it up. I want to do my spaghetti sauce next. What else?

Oh, and now Scott has promised to plant me a peach tree so that I can just pick and can right from our own backyard. Love it!

P.S. The parts of this process we did not love and are not photographically documented are: fruit flies everywhere, a kitchen floor you could not walk across without sticking to with every step, a disaster of a house. All better now though.

Ava: 4 Years Old

Along with a birthday comes a trip to Kiddie Kandids for a birthday picture and a trip to see Uncle Brian for the yearly well visit and shots. Ava had been dreading the shots for a long time and it was all (and more) that she expected. She screamed like a crazy lunatic, but survived. Posing for the pictures and having everyone tell her how pretty she looked, on the other hand, was something she thoroughly enjoyed. So . . . ta da . . .

Ava at 4 years old
Weight: 30 lbs. 4 oz.
Height: 37 3/4 inches

BIRTHDAY BOY!

Zachary turned 2 years old! It was an easy, simple birthday and that was just great by him (and me). He woke up in the morning to everyone saying "Happy Birthday" and singing to him. He loved it and then Scott rushed off to work, Brielle to kindergarten, Ava to preschool and Zachary and I went to Kindermusik. The kids there sang to him and he showed everyone his sign for being 2 on his fingers. When we picked the girls up we went to play and eat at McDonalds.

We decided to get the party started when Zachy woke up from his nap. He got to take a good, long nap and when he woke up he was thrilled with the balloons the girls had blown up, the birthday banner and streamers. We had dinner, cake and presents. Just right for a two year old.

"TWO!"

Finally, some boy toys!

From Grandma and Grandpa. Lovin it. Thank you.

Evan brought him these 55 year old metal trucks from Gary's. Evan knows how to toughen him up. The girls literally will not touch them.

In honor of Zachy's birthday he got to go to the Utah football game with Scott. The kid is in love with anything that involves a ball, so he was very happy through the whole game. Scott was not (Utes lost). He had lots of bad influence friends there trying to brainwash yet another one of our children.

About this boy: I can't believe he is two. I love him. I love having a little boy. I believed it before, but now I know for a fact that boys come as boys loving boy things. It's crazy to watch. I've never seen Zachary pick up a doll and care for it. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES balls. He always has a ball or a few balls or a ball and bat in his hands. He stops dead in his tracks to watch baseball or football on the TV and smiles and yells the whole time.

Happy to be helping juice grandpa's oranges because, of course, it involved throwing "balls" to Scott.

He likes anything Scott is involved in - mowing the lawn, watching sports, wrestling and even fixing the dishwasher. Yikes.

Yep. Zachary is all boy . . . until his sisters get a hold of him.