Spring Break

It's kind of weird because I finally have a child old enough to be in school. They past few years, Spring Break has meant nothing to us, but now we get to actually have a family vacation for Spring Break. Cooper had Thurs thru Monday off this year, so we decided to go over to Bear Lake and stay in the WorldMark Condos.

Even though Ogden Condos are an hour and a half closer, we chose Bear Lake because of the nice indoor pool and hot tub. Well, Jacqu and her family stayed at Bear Lake on Thursday night. On Friday morning, they went swimming before they had to leave. While they were at the pool, the pool guy accidently mixed muratic acid with chlorine and it created a toxic gas that went through the vents and water. To make a long story short, Jared and the kids had to be taken over to the Logan hospital in an ambulance because they were exposed to the gases. They ended up being fine after they wore oxygen mask for a while. The fire department closed the pools down on Friday.

Well, we got there on Saturday evening. We kept wondering what we were going to do for 3 days without going swimming. We ended up being able to go down to the city hall where they had an indoor pool and hot tub. It was really nice and the kids had a great time playing in the water. Cooper enjoys swimming and Clayton found a ball that he kept throwing around.

The next day, we spent the day doing different activities. Cooper slept till 10 am, so he must have enjoyed his queen size bed all by himself! We went on a walk down to the clubhouse, where we chose a couple of movies to watch.

Bryce pulled off some icicles from the condo and the boys chomped on them while we walked. The weather was a little chilly but clayton loved it. We even saw a few deer come down and graze on the hill right in front of our rooms.

There was another family that was leaving on Sunday morning. We were outside in the front when they came out to pack their van. There were 4 boys and 1 baby girl. Cooper had a good time climbing on the hills with them. Bryce had a good time throwing snowballs at them. He even hit the four year old right on top of the head! I have never seen Bryce move so quickly as he did up that hill to make sure the boy was OK! Good thing mom and dad werent' outside when it happened!Later that day, we read a few books with the kids and then put Clayton down for a nap. Bryce, Cooper and I watched Marmaduke. After the movie, we went on a ride to pick up some vinegar so we could dye some eggs. We stopped by the Hodges Cabin to visit with them for an hour and the boys had a great time playing with their toys!

When we got back to the Condo, we mixed the colors and the boys dyed the boiled eggs. Clayton wanted his egg to just sit in the yellow dye and if I tried to move it to a different bowl, he would get upset. Cooper and dad made tie-dyed eggs that turned out really cool. I have been enjoying egg salad sandwiches since then and they have been yummy!

Sunday afternoon, Bryce and I watched New Moon while the boys played around the condo. Bryce grilled us some tasty chicken and we had a wonderful meal. I took the boys on another walk down to some bridges. They had fun walking through the snow and Cooper kept pointing out the deer "droppings" along the way!

Monday morning, we sang Happy Birthday to Cooper and then Dad cooked us bacon and eggs for breakfast. We got things packed up as quickly as possible so we could get into Logan to celebrate Coopers Birthday!

It was such a fun weekend to just spend time with our family. Its not very often that we get opportunities like that, but it was so worth it! Hope we will try to this more often through out the year!

Spring is in the Air

The last few weeks, the weather has been so crazy. One day it is in the 50's and the sun is shining, then the next day it is cold and rainy. Well, when the weather was beautiful one day, we decided to take the kids to the park in Clinton.

I love to watch my kids have fun. It really brings me lots of happiness to see the smiles on their faces. This is the first time that Clayton has really played at a park, so he was in heaven. He kept following Cooper and Landon everywhere. He thought he was just as big as them.

Cooper was such a good big brother to him. He helped him climb the ladder and then took him down the slide. After that, Clayton decided that he could do it all by himself. I turned my head for a second and next thing I know, he is half way up this 15 ft ladder. Then, he turned around and when down the slide backwards.

Cooper had a good time climbing on all the little toys. He also enjoyed going down the really tall slide. The kids had such a great time there and it was nice to have them get out of the house and get a little exercise and sunshine!

Gotta love the park!

Rock N Roll Party

We were invited to a Rock N Roll party at our friends house, the Ecklunds. They decided they wanted to do something different than just hanging out, so they made it a "dress-up" party. Originally, Bryce and I did not dress up at all. When we got to the Casebolts to pick them up and drop off our boys, Holly talked us in to blue hairspray and eyeliner for Bryce!

I actually think Bryce quite enjoyed it, because he like all those weird, crazy bands like KISS. Holly and Aaron were dressed like Sonny and Cher. It was kind of fun to see everyones costumes. Everyone brought food to share and it was so good.

We spent a few hours playing Rock Band. Personally, I enjoyed playing the drums. They are kind of challenging and I had a lot of fun on them. I didnt know any of the songs well enough to sing them (imagine that, rock n roll songs). Bryce spent most of his time on the mic or guitar.

I Love to See the Temple

I captured this photo as we were coming down the hill from Logan Canyon. It is such a beautiful temple. Just reminded me of the day we got married and the day we sealed Cooper to us. Couldn't have happened in a more beautiful and majestic place!

Cooper listens to church music every night when he goes to bed. The other night he told me that this is his favorite song. He said, "It reminds me that I want to go to the temple some day." Sometimes he puts the song on repeat and it plays over and over again while he plays in his room.

18 Months and Counting...

Clayton turned 1.5 years old on the 14th of March. Before his appointment, we took him to the Health Dept where he received 3 shots. He knew what was going to happen the minute we walked in the room...smart little thing.

At the doctors office, he weighed in at almost 24 pounds and is 31 inches long. He is in the 75% for his height and 25% for his weight. This is definately one of the funnest stages. He is starting to be more independent. With the weather starting to warm up, I just leave the back door ajar so he can go in and out as he pleases. He loves to run around in the grass and explore the garden with Yoda.

Every morning I let Clayton pick out what kind of cereal he wants to eat for breakfast. WE have a big variety, but he always chooses Frosted Wheat's. I cut them in half, pour milk on them and the Clayton devours them. He usually puts his spoon down and drinks the milk out of the bowl. He then says, while holding his bowl up, "mo, mo".

I bought a bunch of the individual yogurts last week and so everyday, Clayton likes to climb on the bottom step of the fridge and reach up to get a yogurt. He is funny because if I don't' sit in the same room as him while he is eating, he will pick up his yogurt or cereal and come find me.

Clayton is starting to eat a lot more. He loves cheese enchiladas and black beans. The other day, I made fresh salsa and after trying to use a chip a few times, he decided to pick up a spoon and start shoveling the salsa in his mouth. He wasn't going to waste any time!

The doctor says that Clayton should be saying at least 10 words right now. Well, he can't say 10 words yet, but he is starting to mimic me. Right now, he says: Mom, More, Ball, Bird, Pop, and Yoda. As we read books together, he tries to repeat what I say. Its cute to listen to him try to copy me.

Clayton is really into balls, tractors and trucks right now. He likes to try to play basketball in our basement. He also squeals in the car when he sees a truck or tractor on the road. It's such a great stage because he is starting to notice the birds and airplanes in the air and dogs and cats walking down the street. He is very animated when he sees one of these things.

Things Clayton loves to do at 18 months old:

* go on walks (we either put him in the wagon or he will hold one of my fingers while he walks)

* brush his teeth and try to spit in the sink

* steal Coopers toys when he isn't looking and then RUN!

* pester Yoda

* loves to climb on chairs, couches, tables, and even tall, tall ladders

* put grapes or small items in the back of his tractor (even yogurt one time)

* help mom put the clothes in the dryer

* throw things away

* loves to go through trash cans and find food (we call him the "trash digger")

* lay on Cooper and give him lots of hugs and kisses

*grabs his blanket and comes sits on moms lap (loves things up by his face when tired)

St. "Punch"ricks Days

Today I was able to go help in Coopers class at school. I always look forward to these days when I get to see Cooper at school and get to know his teacher and fellow students. Well, today is St. Patricks Day, so all of the kids were so excited and hyper. They all had on their green clothes and when I came in, they were finishing up a project.

Each table was given a gold coin that they had to put on their table. Then they had to make a trap, in case a leprechaun came to steal their gold coin. It was a lot of fun to watch just how creative each table was with their traps. As soon as they were finished, they headed out to recess. While they were out there, I helped Ms. Clark take the gold coins from each table, turn over all the chairs, scatter paper all over the room, put Leprechaun "footprints" on the tables, and write a note to the class from Mac, the Leprechaun!

The kids came running back in after recess and they were so surprised and exciting about the missing gold coins. Well, I was looking around the room for Cooper, but could not find him. Finally, Ms. Clark came up to me and said, "Cooper is in the office....he got into a fist fight with a classmate at recess."

My thoughts: "Awesome! (Not really) Never in my life have I ever been to the Principal's office. In fact, when I was younger, I was terrified of the Principal. But, here I am. A mother of a son...wait....a kindergartner...who is in the Principal's office for fighting....what are the chances? How do I react? What should I do?

Well, when I found out who the other classmate was, I knew that Cooper was probably just defending himself. I walked down to the office to talk to him. (A side note: 2 of my friends are the secretaries for the school) The head Secretary, Kristen, smiled at me when I walked in. I sat down and here is how the story happened:

"What happened, Cooper?"

"Well, I was playing with Brayden. Sebastian thought I was hurting him, so he came up and slapped me across the face. I didn't even see it coming."

"So, what did you do?"

"I punched him in the eye. I was crying and the recess leader came over and took us to the office." (I had to turn away and smile because I was proud of my boy for standing up for himself)

"Well, you know you are going to have to go in there (office) next?"

"Do I have to talk to the Principal?" (tears filling up in his eyes)

"Yes. Just tell him the truth."

I went back to his class and the recess teacher told me that the other kid had started it. The Principal brought the boys back to the class and they have to sit in the class for recess tomorrow and think of something nice to do for each other. What a crazy day!

Clever Clayton

Clayton is almost 18 months and he is so full of spunk! He is one of those babies that thinks he needs to be right by my side at all times during the day. If I am cooking, he wants to be sitting on the counter next to me. If I am eating cereal in the morning, he sits right on my lap and we share frosted wheats. If I go downstairs, he wants to hang on to my arm while I walk down to the basement. If I get in the shower, he sits in my bathroom and goes through all of my things. If I am putting on my makeup, he stands on the toilet and pulls down all of my perfume and Bryce's cologne and puts them on the vanity. I know this is sad, but sometimes I will even sit him on my lap while I am peeing because he gets really upset when I put him on the floor (this doesn't happen very often, but every now and then)!

I like to put him in the bath, because it is one thing that he loves and it keeps him occupied for a few minutes so I can get ready. And he enjoys getting in the tub with Cooper before bed. Sometimes he get fiesty with Cooper if he thinks he is in his way.
He has started to enjoy books a little more. When he was younger, I would read to him and he loved it. But then he went through a stage where he couldn't sit long enough to look at a book. Now, he brings me books or sits down and looks at them.
Clayton loves to obey small commands and its kind of fun for me to watch. After I change his diaper, he wants to throw his diaper away. When we are about to go somewhere, I tell him to go find his shoes and he walks straight to his room and then brings his shoes to me. He is really into feeding himself right now. It is such a disaster when he gets done, but it gives him something to do and he loves it!In the last 3 months, he has gotten lots of teeth. He now has 10 teeth and I think he only had 3 at Christmas time. He has had a runny nose and cough off and on since first of the year, but he seems to be doing well right now. Today, he bit Cooper for the first time and then he bit Landon a few hours later. He thinks its funny, so I will have to put an end to that!
Clayton loves to be a pest. He will do things that he knows annoys Cooper just to get a rise out of Cooper and then he smiles or laughs. I am trying to teach Cooper to ignore him sometimes because Clayton will stop doing it if he knows it doesn't bother Cooper. He also loves to bug Yoda, but she just takes it. He likes to sit and lay on her. If he knows that something bothers you, he will do it! And he thinks it is so funny.
One day, we were babysitting for Steph and Clayton dissappeared for a few minutes. I kept calling his name but I couldn't hear him. Next thing I know, Yoda comes running up and she has white stuff all over her back. I run to the kitchen and Clayton has dumped out some pancake mix on the floor and is picking it up and throwing it at the dogs! And all the while he has a big smile on his face!