It's almost time!

In less than a week I get to fly out to San Fransisco with Ashley and we are going to stay with Anisha and spend a week eating, shopping, visiting touristy San Franny places, and talking! The best part? I am going solo! No kids and no hubby! (I predict a lot of wrestling, sports, and other manly activities while I am gone.) I am going to miss them like crazy, but I am looking forward to this so much! I don't even think Ashley and Anisha are as excited as I am (you can say you are, but you really aren't)! Thanks Ash for making this possible!!! (And Anisha, seriously, can I have that shirt?)

Sad

I know that my boys are growing up. This is really evident with Clayton lately. This really hit me last week as I was making his lunch. He usually tells me how many sandwiches he wants (meaning: how many pieces to cut it into). He asked for four and so I made four neat little sandwiches and gave them to him. He looked at them and then we had the following conversation:

Clayton: "Mom, did you cut four sandwiches?"
Me: "You know it baby!" (now keep in mind that I used my ghetto fabulous accent when I said this - I don't actually call him baby with any amount of seriousness)
Clayton (in an exasperated voice): "Mom! I am NOT your baby!"

I realize that he isn't a baby, but for some reason it made me really sad to hear him say it out loud (I actually got a little teary right there in the kitchen). In a lot of ways will always be my baby. But in most respects he was right - he really isn't my baby anymore. I just can't believe how fast time goes by as a parent. I heard someone tell me once that the days are long but the years go by so fast. It is so true! I love that he is growing and becoming more independent - I think the fact that he wants to be a big kid and do things for himself must mean that I am doing something right as a parent. I guess I just wish that he hadn't realized this yet...maybe I could have lived in my delusional state at least until he started preschool. It's a good thing that I have Noah - someone still needs to be my baby!

By the way - the top picture is of Clayton as a baby. He was probably about 5 months or so in that pic (just in case you were wondering).

Backyard Camping

Our stake's annual Fathers and Sons campout is coming up soon. Justin wanted to take Clayton this year, but we don't really have any camping gear so he wasn't sure that they were going to be able to go. So I made a phone call to my dad (aka - "Mr. Campout") and he was kind enough to send us some money so that my boys could go camping. So on Friday Justin took Clayton to Wal-Mart so that they could shop for "big boy toys".

When they came home, Clayton was over the moon! He rushed downstairs to tell me what they bought. I honestly can't remember ever seeing him so excited. It was really cute. Then Justin (who was almost as excited as Clayton), decided that he wanted to set the tent up in the backyard and take Clayton on a "backyard overnighter". If I thought that Clayton was excited before, it was NOTHING compared to the excitement he showed as Justin began setting up the tent. Here are some pics:

Clayton really wanted to help Justin set up the tent. He kept trying to grab poles and spikes. It probably took Justin twice as long as it would normally have to set up that tent!

The finished product. Don't my guys look excited!?! This tent is awesome! It is so large!

This is one of my favorite pictures. Clayton is sitting in the "closet" of our tent. He kept saying, "It's just my size!"

Ready for bed! Justin told me that he thought that he fell asleep before Clayton did. He said that Clayton was just so excited. He was playing with the flashlight and bouncing off the walls. He did fall asleep eventually though, and I think they both actually slept really well!


We ended up leaving the tent up in the backyard all weekend. When Noah discovered that it was out there, he became just as excited as his dad and brother!


The boys had the best time playing in the tent. It looks like I have a bunch of campers in my house (one day you'll have to take them camping dad)!


This one of Clayton is another of my favorites. This is normally Clayton's "cheese" face, but he had this grin on his face all weekend! I love that he and Justin got to do this together. It was so sweet (and manly)!

The only thing I didn't like so much about the "camping" was how dirty it made my kids. Especially Noah! He didn't even actually sleep in the tent, but both of the days that he played in it this is what he ended up looking like (I'm not quite sure how exactly he got this dirty):
He actually looks like two different kids in these pictures. The one on top looks like Noah, this bottom one (while cute) doesn't quite look like him to me. Weird.

So thanks dad! This tent was such a great thing for us! My boys (all three of them) L-O-V-E-D it! Clayton is still talking about "sleeping in the tent with daddy". It was a huge success! They are definitely ready for Fathers and Sons. I personally can't wait until next year when they will take Noah!

Outside!

The weather here is starting to warm up! Yay! We have been basking in the suns rays (okay maybe not so much) and delighting in the 70 degree temps (although wishing they were 80 degree temps)! Since sunshine in Vermont is a novelty, we try to take advantage of the nice, sunny days. Last week we went with a few friends to a wildflower preserve. Sadly, we had missed the blooms for a lot of the flowers, but it was fun anyway. We got to spend the whole morning there and even had a picnic! It was pretty fun...until I decided that I wanted to take some pictures of the boys.

This location was so pretty. I loved the combination of the pretty wildflowers and the red barn in the background. I tried to take a pic of both boys together. Bless his heart, Clayton wanted to help me, but he just ended up making Noah a little frustrated!

Sadly, this was the best shot I got of both boys together (why is it so hard to get a good pic of both the kids at the same time!?!):

Here are a few random shots that turned out pretty good:
I love this one of Clayton. The kids thought this fence was the best part of the wildflower preserve and I really did like the photo ops it provided!

Noah is at the age where he is so busy that it is hard to take his picture because he just won't be still! I do like this picture of him though.

We ended up spending that whole afternoon in our backyard (you just can't pass up a good day)! I got a couple of good candid shots of Noah:

Homes here do not come with sprinkler systems. It rains so much that you really don't need one. So we just have this one sprinkler. The boys think it is a great toy. (Until the other day when they were playing with it and Justin turned it on - I must admit, it was pretty funny.)

Noah is also discovering dandilions. He loves to pick them and blow on them (Clayton is sooo over that). I think it is really cute. I wish I had a better camera, I think that a good picture of him in black and white blowing on a dandilion would be classic!

Finally, look at this face! Those blue eyes always get me!

I love summer and the opportunities it gives us to be outside. I love hearing Clayton say, "Mom, I don't want to watch cartoons. I want to play outside." I do wish that we had more sunny days here and way less humidity. But summer is summer and I am EXTREMELY glad that it is finally here!!

Baby News!!

Ha! I bet some of you thought that I was going to announce that I am pregnant. You'd be wrong! My brother and his wife just had their third baby today so I thought I'd share her picture! For all the details and more pics you can check out their blog.

Her name is Ellalyn Star Peterson (we shall call her Ella). She was born at 11:54 a.m. today and weighed 7.7 lbs. and is 19.5 inches long. I think she looks just like her big sister! Here she is:


Isn't she gorgeous! Congratulations Jared, Kerstin, Landon, and Tori! We love her already and can't wait to meet her!!

My own "House of Testosterone"

If you read my previous entry you know that I got a book called House of Testosterone for our anniversary. I have finished reading it (it's only about 180 pages) and I must say it was AWESOME!!!! It makes me feel so good about the kind of wife and mother I am. I really think everyone should read it! You will laugh and say to yourself "YES, I do that too!!!"

Anyway, reading this book got me thinking about my own "House of Testosterone". Here are a few things I thought about:

At my house, this is not an unusual sight. Clayton loves to stare out the window at all the cars in the neighborhood (he knows which neighbor drives what car). Lately, Noah has decided to join him. Clayton is teaching him about our neighborhood cars. Literally, Noah is receiving his "automobile education".

Clayton is always ready at the window to greet our visitors. I think this is the first thing most people see when they come to our house and the last thing they see when they leave (usually Noah is right with him, but when I went outside to take the picture, Noah had to come with me).

I had a presidency meeting Tuesday night and didn't get home until after Justin had put Noah to bed. This was how my baby looked when I got home (in case you can't tell, the onsie is snapped OVER his pants and the socks are pulled up to his knees). Can we say "Nacho Libre"? Justin thought this was the funniest thing ever.

This is what the deck in our backyard looks like. Cars and balls. I have to admit I am becoming quite the automotive expert. I can identify all kinds of cars now (thanks Clayton). Our current favorite are Toyota Highlanders or "Toylanders".

This cracks me up. A friend gave us this car the other day and the boys have been fighting over it ever since (Clayton told me that he is pretending that it is a Toyota Highlander just like Vanessa's). Here is what they look like when it is their turn in the car:


Here is what they look like when it is NOT their turn in the car:


Justin's mom got Clayton a Big Wheel for Christmas and the weather is finally nice enough for us to take it out! Clayton LOVES riding around the neighborhood. I think he looks so grown up. Although I have had to say (more times than I can count), "Bikes are OUTSIDE toys only!!!"

My boys also love their cartoons. Fortunately we have been watching a lot less TV now that it is decent out. However, this is Clayton's new favorite TV watching position. How on EARTH is that comfortable!?!

Finally - notice anything?

Lately Clayton has to have pockets ALL THE TIME!! He freaks out if his outfit doesn't have them. Then he stuffs them to capacity with matchbox cars. Justin and I don't always notice this though. He once came to church with TWELVE cars shoved in various pockets. We didn't realize he'd done that until our pew had been transformed into a little Matchbox parking lot. Here he only had 10 in his pockets. Not his personal best, but definitely noteworthy. (BTW he can tell you the make and model of all these cars.)

I love these boys. They definitely keep me on my toes. I know that Little League and Boy Scouts are right around the corner and I need to take some time to focus on the things that they do and who they are now. Someday, "Mom, where are you?" isn't going to be the first thing Clayton asks in the morning and Noah isn't going to run to me for comfort every time he gets hurt. It makes me sad to think about what I am going to loose as the boys grow, but I sure am glad that I get to have these experiences and memories now!

6 years!

Wow, time sure flies when you are having fun! As of Saturday (the 24th), Justin and I have been married 6 years! I can't believe it! In August it will have been 10 years since we met. Crazy! In honor of our six years together, here are six of my favorite things about him:
1. He's a hard worker. No matter what it is he's working on, he wants to do it well. I appreciate that he is setting this example for our boys. I hope they inherit his work ethic.
2. He's so smart. He has got to be one of the most intelligent people I know. Whenever I have questions he can (usually) answer them. Whether they are medical or not! Impressive. He's going to be such a great doc!
3. He's a people person. People LOVE Justin. He makes a killer first impression. He is willing to help anyone with anything. He can always make time for service. I am so impressed by him.
4. He cracks me up! He has this amazingly sarcastic, dry sense of humor that I love. He has such a quick wit and he can be so dead-pan about it. I love that I am married to someone that I can laugh with every day!!
5. He's dedicated to the gospel. He is so devoted to his calling. He has thought of the best ways to teach his primary class! He really prepares ahead of time and thinks about the kids. He is teaching our boys how to be good priesthood holders.
6. He is so dedicated to our family. He loves us more than anything. The boys absolutely adore him! They rush to the door to greet him when he comes home at the end of the day with shouts of, "Daddy, Daddy!" I love to hear that. He is my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without him!
Our Super-Romantic (cough, cough) Anniversary Date:
We did our anniversary up right this year (...hee hee...)! We began by actually hiring a babysitter! It has been YEARS since we actually paid someone to watch our kids (I know, we are TOTALLY high class).
We started our evening at Outback Steakhouse where we proceeded to take 10 years off our lives by eating chili fries, steaks, alfredo pasta, chicken, and shrimp. Sooo worth it!
After dinner we decided to go to Barnes and Noble Bookstore to look around. It is one of my favorite things to do and, because Justin loves me, we went. Then he let me buy this book:


HILARIOUS!! Whether you have all boys or not, this book is definitely worth a read (although I'm sure it's funnier to those of us who live in a "House of Testosterone"). I am not done with it yet, but I have been laughing hard so far! Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about it. Read it!!
We decided to end our ultra-romantic anniversary night with a trip to the grocery store for our Memorial Day shopping. Awww, how romantic!
It was a great anniversary! I couldn't have asked for a better night! Anything Justin and I do together, whether it's a weekend getaway at a B&B (which we haven't done since we had kids BTW) or just grocery shopping, is so much fun. We have a great time together. Someday it will be nice to be able to do romantic getaways and gifts for our anniversary, but I really like that we keep it low key right now. It fits our personality and who we are as a couple. He's my best friend and I can't imagine not wanting to be with him, no matter what the activity! I am going to end this post with pictures of the two best things that have come out of our marriage so far (I wanted to post some of our wedding day pics, but our scanner is broken, so maybe next year):
Clayton wanted to look like Daddy at church today, so Justin let him pick out one of his ties to wear. It makes me laugh so hard! The back part of the tie comes down to his knees!

Clayton took this picture of us right before church today. I love it. This is typical Noah. If Clayton has it, you better believe Noah is reaching for it!

Justin, it has been an amazing 6 years and I can't wait to spend 6 more amazing years with you! I am so blessed to be your wife! I love you!!!