What Did You Say?

Aria is about 21 months old now and she is starting to talk up a storm.  She says new words every day.  It's fun to watch her when you are telling her what something is.  She gets this little concentrated look on her face and then she tries saying the word.  Her favorite words have been "No", "Mine", "Daddy", "Mommy", "Doggy", "Go, Go", "Ball", "Num Num" and "Baby".  Now her vocabulary is growing and growing.  Some of her latest words are "Book", "Car", "Druck" (Truck), "Bike", "Slide", "Kick", "Stairs", "Side" (Outside), "Sock", "Shoes", "Juice", "Guy", "Fish", "Eyes", "But" (Button), "Hand", "Drink", "Cake", "Happy", "Birdie", "Pooh" (Winnie the Pooh), "Walk" and "Mulk" (Milk).  She is even trying out saying people's names.  So far she can say "Chase", "Chasey" and "Sesh" (Seth, our little next door neighbor).  She also likes to make sounds like "Vroom Vroom" when she sees a car, "Honk Honk", "Woof" when she sees a dog and she loves to growl when she sees a lion or bear.  She also loves to growl at you when you are playing with her and wrestling around.  She is such a funny little bug.  She is also a little copy cat and she makes us all laugh when she tries to imitate what people are doing.  Here she is trying to do some tricks on the ball.  I think she watches me exercising a bit too much.  

She is climbing on everything, tries to jump off the stairs, runs everywhere, is into everything and loves being around her big sister and brothers.  She is now going to Little Gym and just loves it.  She likes to hang on the bars, do somersaults and play with the balls and bubbles.  She is so happy and smiles at everyone.  She says "Hi" and "Bye" to everyone we see and her cute little voice and wave brings a smile to everyone's face.  She is growing up so fast and it makes me want to freeze her just the way she is.  But if I could do that I would miss out on all the fun and wonderful things that are yet to come.  I think being a Mom is the most wonderful thing in the world.  There is no place I would rather be than at home with my kids.  

Eating Your Veggies

So my Mom used to always make Zucchini Parmesan when we were growing up, in fact it was one of her signature dishes that people used to ask her to bring to parties and family dinners.  I was a rather picky eater when I was younger, and as you can guess this was not something that was on my very limited list of  favorites.  A couple of years ago my sister in law, Stephanie, made some and brought it to a family dinner.  I tried it and I was in love!  It was so delicious and I wanted to try making it.  Well I finally made it a few months ago, but it didn't go over so well.  I didn't cook the zucchini long enough and they were pretty crunchy, but the flavors were good.  So I decided to give it another try about a week ago and it turned out wonderfully.  It was so yummy!  I decided to boil some little pasta shells and I poured it over the top like sauce.  I cut the zucchini up in little pieces for Chase and Aria.  Dinner was pretty much a success that night.  I couldn't believe it.  Mike and Michela loved it, Hunter and Chase ate it, but without much whining and Aria was actually picking the zucchini pieces out of the sauce and popping them in her mouth.  

I was so happy!  I'm putting in a picture of it, it tastes better than it looks, and I will for sure be making this again sometime in the near future.  Here's to trying something new!

Egg Drop

All the 4th through 6th graders at Michela's school were encouraged to participate in the Egg Drop the other day. Michela came up with her own idea of wrapping the egg in a few layers of marshmallows and paper towel. She and Hunter tested it by throwing it out her bedroom window to the driveway below. They were successful on their test drop a few days before the real thing.  

The morning of the Egg Drop Michela got up early to wrap her egg. I was so proud of her for coming up with her own plan. 

I went to school and helped with the Egg Drop so I was there to watch. The kids put their creations in a garbage can and the principal was up on the roof ready to haul them up.  He took each one and threw it up into the air and the crowd of kids watched it fall on the concrete. I laughed at the kids' cries each time one of the creations hit the ground. 

 These were two interesting contraptions. 

The wood one looked pretty sturdy but when it hit the ground it buckled and the egg smashed. The Dad of the girl who did it groaned when it hit the ground and we all heard the crunch. Unfortunately Michela's did not survive the fall. We don't know what went wrong, maybe the marshmallows weren't as fresh and soft. The most successful ideas were eggs inside footballs and those air pouch packaging things.  The funniest one was an egg inside of jello which left quite a mess when it hit the ground.  Next year I'm sure she will give it another try and learn from her experience to come up with an even better idea.

Don't You Look Smart!

My poor children, they have inherited my horrible eyesight. They used to have such great vision, but last year Michela started complaining that she couldn't see the board at school. And then at Hunter's checkup this year I was totally shocked to find out that he could hardly see anything either. Michela can hardly see the big E on the chart. The eye doctor said if she was old enough and went to take the eye test for a driver's license they wouldn't give her a license. I felt terrible! I hated getting glasses when I was little. I remember getting my first glasses in the fourth grade and my Mom made me get these ugly light pink plastic monstrosities. She said they looked nice with my skin tone. Blah, blah, blah... bottome line was they were the ugliest thing I had ever seen. I remember holding them up to my eyes for brief glimpses of the board at school and then I would stash them back in my desk.

I was determined that my kids would have a good experience with their glasses. We took our time trying on all kinds of different colors and shapes of glasses. I can't believe how many different cute styles they have now. We found Hunter's right away but Michela took a while to find the ones she liked the best. I thought she would go for something kind of inconspicious, but she surprised me with going for some darker brown glasses with a funkier feel to them. The shape looks totally cute on her face.




They were totally surprised at how well they could see. Michela kept commenting on how she could see the tiniest little things. They were pretty excited and we had to go to the carpet store afterwards so they could show Mike, Matt and Grandpa their new specs. Hopefully they will continue to like them. Keep your fingers crossed!

Sweet Ride

Mike bought me a new bike a few weeks ago since I have been complaining about being all hunched over my old bike. I wanted a cruiser so I could sit up more so we found a beauty that had the capability to haul the trailer up some hills. I want to try and ride 1 to 2 times a week up the Provo Canyon Trail to Bridal Veil Falls. It's about an 8 mile ride. I've been able to go a few times now and I love it! It's a good workout having to haul an extra 30 pounds or so behind me. My goal is to be able to ride all the way to Vivian Park. Aria loves it too. Today she was singing little songs on the way up, it was totally making me laugh. On the way back down when we get going fast she always yells out, "Whee!".

I let her get out at Bridal Veil today but it was pretty windy so she didn't really feel like posing for any pictures. It was actually extremely windy on the ride up, I felt like I was pushing against a wall at times. I love the trail. It's beautiful, quiet and there aren't too many people around. All the hard core bikes fly by me, but I just keep on pedalling!

I've been trying to add some variety to my workout schedule by throwing in the biking and I've started going to a yoga class too. I actually enjoy exercising when I can mix it up. Yoga is great, it's tough but it's relaxing at the same time. My friend Chelsea is teaching it and it's just a small class so I really enjoy it. Last week was my first class and I ended up a bit sore, but I slept so good that night. :) Thanks Chelsea! (She's like 7 months pregnant but she's stronger and more limber than all her students.) Sometimes I wish I could just not bother with the exercising, but I know how great I will feel when I am done so I make sure I make time for it. My Aunt Renee said to me not too long ago when she was talking about exercise and getting older, "I walk so I can walk!" I will take inspiration from her and from my Mom who walks every day up and down those Kensington hills. Get moving everyone!

Disaster Strikes!

So yesterday I was making dinner and Michela came in from playing outside. Aria was playing on the stairs and Michela went over to say hi to her. Michela asked me, "Mom, did Aria get her haircut?" My heart sank and I said, "No, why do you ask?" Michela looked at me and replied, "because one side of her hair is shorter." I was so afraid to go and look at her hair and see what had been done. I looked at Aria and didn't notice anything at first until I turned her head and saw that the right side of her hair was almost all gone. Chase walked in right then and when he saw the look on my face the guilt exploded all over his face and he hung his head. I immediately sent him to his room, as punishment and for his safety as well. I fingered Aria's pretty little curls on the other side of her head and burst into tears. I am not kidding you when I say that I sobbed. I don't know why it hurt me so much to see her hair butchered but it killed me. I think Michela thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.

What would posess Chase to cut his baby sister's hair??!!! He said he didn't think he would get in trouble. What??!! It wouldn't be all that bad, except for the fact that we are supposed to take family pictures next week. Now I don't know if I even want to take them, because I don't think I want to see this haircut up on my wall for the next 3 years! Don't get me wrong, she's still so darn cute, but she's just doesn't look like the same little Aria to me. I know it's only hair and it will grow back some day (or year) but it breaks my heart to think that those cute little curls that flipped up on her shoulders will probably never come back.

Here are the pictures of the before and after. At least our sweet neighbor let me bring her over this morning so she could even it all out. Thanks Lisa!

So Sad!

The New Do

American Fork Canyon

Saturday night we went up with the Staker clan again for some fun up American Fork Canyon.  Peggy, Larry and Megan went up early and found a great spot.  We had fun playing scrabble, Michela beat us all, and chatting.  The kids tromped around through the trees getting dirty and threw rocks in the river.  They were as happy as can be.  We roasted s'mores and the kids threw almost every piece of garbage in the fire.  This fire picture is pretty cool, if you look closely it looks like there is a skull in the flames.

Here are the boys- Matt, Larry and Mike

Here are the girls in our new hats from Swiss Days (It's funny that we all wore them. )- Sara, Megan and Mauri

Here's a picture of the big kids- Hunter, Chase, Kaden, Trevan and Michela.  I love how dirty they all are.  :)

Aria and Daynen ran around and made us continually nervous about the fire.  Here's a video of Aria running.  She cracks us up because she stands there swinging her arms getting ready to run like she's in the race of her life.  And she loves for us to say, "Ready, Set, Go!" every time she runs.  It's so fun watching her little legs and feet go.  This morning when I was taking her downstairs I said, "Let's Go" and she said, "Red, Set, Go!"  Too cute.

Stewart Falls Part 2

Saturday morning Mindy and Cody were going to hike Timp, but they wanted to start at 4:00 in the morning and I was thinking there was no way I wanted to get up that early.  Megan suggested we do Stewart Falls instead.  Last time I went with my sister Tiffany and we rode up the tram and hiked down to the Falls and then down to Sundance.  I wanted more of workout this time so Megan and I did the hike in reverse.  It was so much better this way!  My shins, knees and toes would much rather go up than down.

We got there at 7:00 in the morning and it was a brisk 45 degrees.  Once we started walking it felt great.  It was so quiet and peaceful, no one else was around.  We even saw some trees with leaves that had begun to change.  So pretty!

We made it up to the falls in 40 min. and took a break to enjoy the beauty of it all.  

I love all the colors on the rocks and in this picture you can actually see the rainbow in the water.

After our break we crossed the river and tried to find the other trail.  I took us on a little scenic tour through the jungle, sorry Megan, but we back tracked and soon found the right trail.  It is a good climb from the falls but it is so beautiful you forget the burning in your legs.  Our plan was to reach the tram at 9:00 so we could ride it down to Sundance.  We got there at about 9:15 but the tram wasn't moving.  I forgot to check the tram times before we left so I didn't know the tram didn't start until 10:00 on Saturdays.  Whoops!  So we decided to take another little hike up to Mandan Summit where you could look out over the mountains and actually see parts of Midway.  

The tram finally started and we had a relaxing ride down.  It was a great hike and thanks to Megan for coming with me.  Now if only I could figure out a way to do this hike every week!

Swiss Days!

I finally got to go to Swiss Days this year.  Mike took the day off so I could go with the Staker girls.  Thanks Mikey!  He and Matt stayed home and looked after the babies and made strawberry jam.  Insert the Aww now, I know he is pretty fantastic.  The last time I went to Swiss days was when I was 11 years old and we were up here visiting my Grandparents in Midway.  I remember it vividly because my Mom ended up getting kidney stones and we almost didn't make it back home for the first day of school.  My Grandma had to drive us all back and we did our school clothes shopping on the way home.  Great memories, "Remember the Ponderosa!"  (That's for Mom and Tiff.)

Here is Megan, Peggy and Sara as we started off our day at the Barn.  It is such a cute shop, it's kind of like Rodworks but bigger and with more stuff.

There were lots of things to look at.  I learned from Megan that you don't need to buy much because you go mostly for ideas.  Megan can make anything so she just finds stuff she likes and then goes home and makes it.  I'm following her example this year and I've got a whole head full of ideas that I want to try and make.  

We did buy some cute hats, I don't want to try and make those, but there was no mirror so we used our cameras to see how we looked in them.

It was a very fun day and I came home with a few cute things: including a pumpkin wall hanging, some fun zipper ties for the boys, some hats and a new watch.  All that looking and shopping wore me out, but I'll be ready to go again next year.  Thanks for the invite Peggy!