campaign photos

A few Saturday's ago, we spent the morning at the Farmers' Market acting "normal" while being followed around by two photographers. Ben's campaign was trying to get some shots to use on mailers and fliers next month. I hope they got something they want to use. I picked out a few of my favorites . . .

A Garden Update

Harvest time has begun at our house. We've been enjoying cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash for a month or so. Now, finally, the tomato harvest is underway. We've been eating four or five each evening for the last week and are thrilled that dozens more are in various stages of ripening. We had breakfast burritos with fresh salsa for breakfast this morning and nachos with fresh salsa for dinner. We snacked on sliced tomatoes all day long. Our family loves, loves, loves garden tomatoes!!!
Ever since the garden was planted, Ben and the kids have been going out to check on things in the evening when Ben gets home from work. I love this picture of them in their pajamas and Ben in his work clothes. It's a scene repeated two or three times a week around here. Robert's favorite phrases of the past few weeks have been, "Bumber ready?" (Is a cucumber ready?) and "Kenney ready?" (Is a zucchini ready?). Then, when they bring in the bounties of the harvest, we hear, "Bumber!" and "Kenney!" Each cucumber that Robert brings in has a bite out of one or both of the ends.
We think our carrots were planted a little too close together. They are pretty small and several have grown together. The kids have had fun laughing at the silly shape of most of the carrots. We have eaten a few, but none have been to popular on the intake. Still, the kids do get excited about everything that comes out of our garden.

First Day of School

(Robert, Kate, & James in front of the CFDC bulding on Monday.)

James and Kate began their third year of preschool on Monday. Actually, it's called kindergarten, but I'm pretty sure they have to go to kindergarten again next year. This school is at the University of Utah and is linked to the Child & Family Development Center. It's located only two building from my office building. Since it is a laboratory school and, in part, used by faculty and students for research, there's a great observation room with a one way mirror. I'm looking forward to watching James and Kate in an environment without me, since I know kids behave differently with and without mom around. I expect to see a lot of things I'll be pleased about, but also prepared to learn a few things we'll be talking about at home.

I'm very excited that I will be able to pick them up from school each afternoon and be the one to take them home and hear all of the random talk about their day at school. And, this is a co-op school, so with two in the program, I get to spend 10 days each semester in the classroom with my kids. I'm excited about being able to be part of their school experience. (Fitting co-oping into a full-time work schedule is something I'm still working out???)

(In the hallway waiting for the classroom door to open.)

Last Thursday night was parent orientation at the kindergarten. I'm excited for all of the things that will be taught at the school. The teacher views the class as a community. In the first week they learned about what they want to learn at school, how to get ready for school, how to use kind words with each other, and they created their own class rules. They learned about water in science, paint in art, sorted colored cubes for math, dressed up for dramatic play, wrote letters to classmates, learned each others names, and played board games to learn all kinds of important skills (counting, reading, winning well, losing well, taking turns, helping each other, etc.).

There was an open house last Friday for the kids. James couldn't believe that game playing was part of school and yelled out the names of all the games at school that we also have at home. They both did a small art project and drew a picture of themselves to hang on the wall outside the classroom. On the way home, James commented that no one spoke Spanish at that school. He was disappointed. Kate likes that part. In fact, Monday morning, when I asked her if she was excited for the first day of school, she said yes and that one of the things she was going to like best about the school was that it is in English. I really, really want her to like Spanish, but I'm afraid this is only the beginning of me wanting something for Kate that she doesn't want for herself. I hope I can figure out when it's best for mom to be in charge and when it's okay for Kate to be in charge. Parenting is tough!

That said, it is very important to me that Kate and James (who loves Spanish) maintain the Spanish they have learned the past two years, so they will continue going to the Spanish school on Wednesday mornings. I'm also looking for other opportunities for them to be in Spanish-speaking environments. Hopefully, next year, at least James will be able to be in a Spanish-immersion elementary school where they do all subjects in both Spanish and English, alternating the language each day. Kids have to test into the program, so we'll wait and see. If Kate changes her mind before next year, I hope she'll be in the program too. But, if she still wants only English, I think it's more important that she likes school than that she speaks Spanish. Thankfully, those are worries for another day. For today, we're just excited for the new kindergarten adventure.

(Robert, when he realized that he did not get to stay for school.)

2010 - father's blessing for school

Today was the first day of a new school year for James and Kate. Ben gave the kids a father's blessing this morning. First James, then Kate, and then Robert rushed to the chair for his turn.

James was blessed to like his teacher and to be able to make new friends and to learn good things. He was blessed to like school and to be happy. James was reminded that his mom and dad and Natalie (nanny) love him and would help him to be successful. He was also blessed to have Heavenly Father's help to make friends and to learn what he needs to learn.

Kate was blessed to know that her mom and dad and Natalie love her. She was blessed to be successful at school. She was blessed to be a leader among her friends and to do right and good things. She was blessed to flourish as she learned new things that would prepare her for life and school. She was blessed to be kind and to be a friend to many. Kate was also blessed with self-confidence and to know she had the support of her family. Finally, she was blessed to be welcomed in the school and to allow her talents to come forward.

Robert was blessed to continue to learn and grow at home and to be able to adjust to James' and Kate's new school schedule. He was blessed to have James and Kate share with him what they learn, like art and numbers and colors. He was also blessed that James and Kate would be friends to him and be good a big brother and sister. I watched Robert during his blessing. His little arms were folded tight, his eyes were wide open and he had the biggest smile ever the entire blessing. It was adorable! He loves to be treated just like Kate and James.

Morgan County Fair

Ben's nephew, Taylor, raised a pig again this summer and auctioned it off at the Morgan County Fair. Seeing the hog there was the reason we trecked up to Morgan, but we love how close the kids can get to the baby animals at the Morgan County Fair. The only way to get face to face with animals at the Utah State Fair is to sign up for mutton bustin'. We like the options in Morgan much, much better. Thanks for the excuse, Taylor!(Ben and kids with several chicks.)

(Robert kissed this little guy once or twice.)

(Robert kissed and hugged the calf too.)

(Plenty of places to climb . . . including the bleachers.)

(And plenty of water to play in.)

The zoo and Maps

We went to the zoo last Tuesday evening with Lucas and his mom. In the picture above, all three kids are studying their zoo map in the Cabela's row boat. James and Kate love to get a map on their way into the zoo and follow where we are as we move about the grounds. (They do the same thing at Red Butte Gardens.) On this particular visit, we started at the playground, spent some time in the row boat, got wet at the metal elephant that blows water out it's trunk, and finished off with some ice cream. I'm not sure any of the kids even paid attention to any actual live animal. I guess that's one of the benefits of having a membership and using the zoo as a playground for imagination an hour or so on any given random evening.

Bear Lake with McAdams

We spent the weekend camping near Bear Lake with Ben's family. It was a quick, but fun trip. We were able to fit in all the essentials of a camping trip. James and Kate had been looking forward to it and loved it. Robert had no idea what was coming and loved it too. I was worried about the night with Robert. He's very, very good with his bedtime routine and very, very bad without it. He surprised me, though. He was awesome. I think he was just happy to be treated just like Kate and James - with a sleeping bag and all. He waited for his bag to get laid out while watching Kate and James climb into theirs. When his was ready, he climbed in, pulled the top up to his chin, spread his arms out above his head, closed his eyes and pretty much went straight to sleep. Then, wonder of wonders, he slept the whole night through! James and Kate slept well too! All the kids loved the tent, the fire, and the s'mores. They loved time with cousins and time at the lake. I'm no lover of camping, but I loved watching my kids love camping and hanging out with family.

candy

I was trying to get a glimpse of Kate's inner thoughts this morning in an effort to better understand her and where she's coming from. I learned a few things.

Mom: Kate, what makes you the happiest?
Kate: Um, playing games.
Mom: Which game is your favorite?
Kate: Uno.
Mom: What makes you sad?
Kate: When we don't have any candy in our house.

Guess what's not in our house right now?

I'm a fast thinker, you know.

James and Kate behaved badly a couple of days ago (Saturday). They each took a turn pushing the other from the top of a set of bleachers. Kate pushed James first and then he pushed her in retaliation. James landed on his feet, more or less. Kate went down with her arms and legs spread and landed flat on her back, neck and head. We are very, very lucky there were no serious injuries . . . or worse.

I don't think, at age 4.5, they have an appropriate appreciation for how dangerous the falls could have been, but Ben and I had a very serious talk with them on the way home trying to help them understand. It was late, so we informed them that they were going to be having a two hour time out in their room the next day and that they should use that time to think about how dangerous it was to push each other from the bleachers and how they would remember to not do such dangerous things in the future.

Sunday morning, over breakfast, Kate said, "Mom, I'm a fast thinker, you know." Not sure where she was going with this, I replied, "Yes, Kate, you are a fast thinker." Then she said, "So can my time out can be shorter than James'?" Apparently, Kate couldn't figure out why she would need two hours to think about not pushing James again.

As an aside, during the time out, Kate immediately fell asleep and James tinkered around waiting for the time to pass, occasionally calling upstairs to find out how much time was remaining. During this same time, Robert was taking his regular afternoon nap and Ben and I managed to get a lot done. We've decided to start working on figuring out what we could ground our kids for next Sunday afternoon.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Robert!

We had a small, but fun celebration for our new two-year-old this evening. Grandma McAdams and Grandpa Judd came over to help sing and have a piece of cake. Grandma Judd is out-of-town and we missed her. Robert thoroughly enjoyed his special day. In fact, we've been talking about his birthday for a week. There have been several family birthdays in the past three or four weeks and he's on to the whole singing/cake routine. We've been singing to him all week and he has worn a beaming smile each time. "Who's birthday is on Sunday?" "Mine!" "How old will you be?" "Three!" Huh?
James has insisted all week that Ben and I forgot one of Robert's birthdays. "The one when he was too little to eat cake, but not the day he was born." Right, Mom and Dad missed a birthday. I don't think so. In any event, James has convinced Robert that he's turning three and that's the only answer Robert's willing to give in answer to the "How old are you?" question. We'll see how long it takes to straighten this out.

Robert, taking a moment to blow his own horn. And, why shouldn't he?
He made sure his stuffed turtle was near his birthday cake turtle
(which I made and Robert loved).

Robert is a terrific, fun, little guy. He's a Mama's boy and I (mostly) love that. I love his smile. I love his laugh. I love that he loves for me to rock him to sleep each night. I love that he wakes up 3 out of 4 mornings a week about 5:30, calls "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" until I come and get him, and then sleeps next to me for another hour or so. I love that he runs to the door, yelling "Mama" when I come home from work each evening, and gives me a big hug. I love that he always wants to read the same book each night. The one with pictures of candy on the second page. The page we look at longer than any other page in the book.
James and Kate adore Robert. They are great older siblings and I am grateful for how well they play with Robert and how willing they are to do so. Robert follows them around all day and thinks he can do anything they can do. He's usually right.
Grandma McAdams gave Robert a bubble-blowing lawn mower. When Robert saw the picture with bubbles on the box, he started jumping up and down while screaming, "Bubbles!" over and over again. We put the mower together and Robert stayed occupied for over 30 minutes. Ben had to pull the mower out of his hands so he would come in the house and we could sing and eat cake. Clearly, the present is a hit!
Mom, Dad, Kate and James got Robert a few add-ons to our existing GeoTrax train set, which Robert has been taking a keen interest in the last couple of months. He was thrilled with our presents as well.

Alaska

Brett (friend), Danny (my bro), Nathan (my bro), Sam (my bro-in-law),
Ben (my hubby, of course), Nicholas (my cousin), Ben (my bro), Zdenek (friend)

I was having some trouble with the Internet last night and couldn't upload photo's very well. There's more to come, but here are a few photos from the big Alaska man-trip Ben took two weeks ago with my dad, brothers and a few others. Unfortunately, it rained non-stop and temperatures stayed in the mid-fifties most of the time. Fortunately, they were prepared for exactly that kind of weather and stayed warm (enough) and dry (enough) to have a great time.

The group met up in Anchorage from all their various origination points, together flew to Bethel, AK, and, then, in three separate float planes, landed on a lake in the middle of absolutely nowhere. From there, they inflated their rafts, launched into a river, and floated their way back towards Bethel, making camp each night along the way.They did a whole lot of fishing, which was pretty much the point of the trip. Ben says he caught at least a hundred fish. The trout pictured above was one of the smaller fish he caught. There are pictures of really, really big salmon to come later. Ben had a couple quick fly-fishing lessons with friends this summer as preparation and then packed in plenty of practice on the river.
Here is a picture of Ben catching a nap. I understand he did plenty of this too. Only his mouth is exposed, allowing him to breath. Otherwise, he's perfectly positioned to keep himself warm. All that clothing and all the necessary gear Ben took represents his birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, etc. gifts over the past year. I wonder if he's looking forward to some other kind of gift at this point? On the upside, he did say he'd love to do this again, so maybe they weren't all one-use purchases. Also, the group was far from cell phone reception the entire trip. While Ben stressed enormously to get all his work obligations to a point that he could leave them for 10 days, he says he enjoyed the inability to check his cellphone and email for a spell. I wasn't sure it was in him to relax, but apparently it is possible.

Becker Rafting Trip

Ben and I joined others of Mayor Becker's staff for a two-day rafting adventure July 31 and August 1. Both the company and the Colorado River were a lot of fun.