Memorial Day

I was working yesterday when my family all went to the cemetery,
so I took the boys by today on the way to my parents house.

Last week was the first time that Dakota had ever asked about all of the head stones in the cemetery so I thought that it was a good time to talk to him a little bit about death, I am not sure that it went quite how I wanted....

On the way up there I told Dakota about Baby Aspen and how she had gotten sick and died, and now she is in heaven.
I told him that someday mommy and daddy would get old and die and then someday he would too, but it was okay because we would be with Heavenly Father and Jesus and we would all be together as a family. Talking about it with him really gave me the chills and I even felt a little bit of emotion
(very rare for me, I know)!!!

Dakota thought about it for a minute and replied, "That is DUMB mom!!!"
(not quite the reaction that I was wanting)

Once we got to the Alpine Cemetery Dakota was excited to see all of the head stones and at every one he would ask me "what is this one about?"
I then made the mistake of explaining to him that when people die they bury their bodies in the ground.

He then asked, "where are their heads???"
This was followed by wanting ghosts to come out of the ground.

I really should have just skipped the whole topic, but it was a nice Memorial Day anyway.

This was the plate that Dakota made for himself at my mom's house.

Uncle Daniel & Dakota

Camping!!!

Last weekend Scott took Dakota on a little fishing trip.
Dakota was so excited and even though the wind ruined the fishing.....
Dakota thought that it was the best trip ever!!!
He had never been on a boat before, and Scott said that at first he was a little nervous.
Scott did such a good job of taking pictures of Dakota....
I just think that he has to be the cutest 4 year old ever!!!
I am glad that they had such a fun trip.

Kenai got to go along too....
he needed a break from the puppy.

Saddest Story Ever.......

This past Thursday my Grandpa (who is 89 and lives alone) was robbed at gun point!!!
Three men broke into his house at around 9:30 in the morning...
and after threatening to kill him if he didn't open his safe,
they hand cuffed him to a door.
Amazingly, he was able to take the door off of the hinges
and then drag it to the phone to call for help!!!
Luckily he wasn't hurt other than a few bumps and bruises,
but as you can imagine he is pretty shaken up!!!

Last night my dad was on the news talking about the event... here is the link,
ksl.com - Family of elderly robbery victim offers reward

the Worser of 2 Evils....

The Binky or the Fingers.... that is the question???

About 2 weeks ago I made the decision that Bridger was old enough to take away his Binky. He has always liked it, but it seemed that he was starting to like it a little too much.... so I thought that it was a good time for them to part ways.

I just took it away cold turkey and to my delight.... we really didn't have any issues. Sure there were a few times that I wanted to plug his whining with the Binky but I held strong and everything went well.

.... that is until I noticed that he was starting to suck on his two fingers more often. Now it seems like every time I turn around he has them shoved down his throat. So now I am super stressed.

Should I just give him back the binky???

It seems that everyone that I talk to thinks that the binky is the better choice.... but I was so proud of myself for taking it away!!! All that work for nothing?

Last night I went into his room to find him sucking away on his fingers. I decided to give him the binky to see what he would do, and it was like they had never been separated! He popped it right back in and started sucking.

The only down side was that I couldn't sleep all night thinking about our regression!

I need input!

I started a poll at the top of my side bar and am interested to see what the verdict is.

Should it really be this stressful????

The Carnival

On Monday we went to the Alpine Elementary Carnival with Noah and Grandma.
There was games, little rides and even a Reptile Show!!!!
Dakota loved everything and Bridger was most content to just play on the playground!

Bridger was not the happiest to be strapped into his stroller....

Even though neither Dakota or Noah are afraid of snakes,
for some reason neither one dared to hold this snake.

Pirate Party

Yesterday was Dakota's last day of "Talking Time" for the year so they celebrated by having a Pirate Party.... and all the kids got to dress up!

Dakota went as a Ghost Pirate... and of course was the scariest pirate there.

They also did his (year end) evaluation and I was so surprised with how much progress he has made this year. One sound that he has always struggled with is the "F" sound and I did not think that he would ever get it... but after a lot of practice he pretty much has it mastered.

The "Talking Time" program has been such a good experience for Dakota, when we first started going last year it was a nightmare some days. He hardly participated, but now he is one of the best ones there. I don't know how his teachers do it..... I can barely handle one hour a week, but they really seem to love all of the kids and seeing all of their progress.

Noah

Today my little brother Noah came over....

Of course he and Dakota fought like brothers....

This led to Noah coming and reporting everything bad that Dakota was doing.

I told him not to be a "tattle tale" (or is it taddle???)

this brought about an interesting conversation....

Noah: "I don't think that you are supposed to know this, but every one thinks that you are a tattle tale".

Me: "What do you mean?"

Noah: "You know, you tell people stuff on the phone that you
aren't supposed to"
(I assume that he was implying that I was gossip.)

Me: "hmmm, well that makes me mad!"

Noah: "What, are you going to tattle tale to mom???"

I hate to brag.....

... but how can I not?

My little (actually big) Bridger won Utah Valley Magazine's
"Cutest Cutie Born in 2009"

His lucky mom won a $100 gift card to Dear Lizzie....
which any one who has been there know will not go very far.
I plan to spend the whole thing on their amazing Cup Cakes.....
due to the fact that they are beyond the best in the whole world!!!!

Way to go Bridger!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

the two cute and crazy boys that make me a mom......

On Thursday Dakota had his "Mother's Day" program at preschool.
They sang two cute little songs and then gave all the moms a necklace and art project that they made.
I loved every bit of it.... but my favorite part was when I first walked in. Dakota was looking at all of the moms one by one as they came in. When he saw that I was there he got the biggest smile in the whole world. I knew that he was so happy to see his mom!!!!

Another cute moment happened a few days later when I was driving and Dakota suddenly said,

"you are the best mom!!!"

I was so happy and so surprised.....
He then followed it up with,

"I think that I am going to make something for dad!!!"

(at least I was the favorite for a second)

I had to spend my Mother's Day working, but I figure what better way to spend the day than helping other women become Mom's.

When I got home I got the best present in the whole world from Scott.....
a clean house and dinner on the table!
He also got me this super cute wallet!!!

Way to go Scott!!!!

Cake for Breakfast???

WHY NOT?

Yesterday morning after I dragged Dakota out of bed for school,
I asked him if he wanted some cereal for breakfast.
He thought about it for a minute and replied....

"No, I will just eat chocolate cake"
.... and I said, "whatever?"

I figure there is milk in it, so that is basically like cereal, right????