Boys of Summer

We love summer time here at Homestead Farms. As I have mentioned before, we have some awesome neighbors/friends and when summer time rolls around, we get to spend many evenings outside just hanging out and letting the kids play. (And by kids, that often includes the husbands along with the children.)

Here we have J and his lovely little girl TaylorAnn. TaylorAnn and Gabe are just over a year apart and I am sure as the days go by, they will become good friends. And the other night as Gabe was scooting around on his fire truck TaylorAnn wanted a ride too. It was so cute to watch the 2 of them rolling around on the truck together and TaylorAnn could not stop smiling.

Also in my previous blog I mentioned that Gabe has turned into quite the little Picasso at times by way of coloring on my living room walls. There were some doubts that my sweet little boy could do such a thing....

BAM! Doesn't he look proud? Here is my little artist sitting below his "work of art." Of course I had him help me clean it off but not before getting proof for you, Internet.

Here is a close-up of his art. I wish his creative outlet wasn't released on my white walls.

Also this summer we have taken Gabe swimming a couple times. We wanted to find a pool more suitable for little kids and we scored big time with the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.

I have already allowed a picture of myself in my swimsuit once so you will not be seeing one of me again. Did Ryan take some? Yes. But you will not see them. They are just too sexy for a family blog. If I were to post them on here, I would have to give this site an Over 18 Warning and I really don't want to start a sex riot over my blog.

This past holiday weekend we had the pleasure of having Ryan's parents Scott and Linda in town. We always love it when his family can come down and spend time with Gabe. Gabe gets to see my family all the time and he loves it. We want him to have the same relationship with Ryan's family too.

On the 4th of July we took everyone down to the Tracy Aviary. Gabe loves birds and Ry and I have wanted to take him but we are lazy no-fun poops and it took having special company in town to get us down there.

Gabe was running around like a chicken with his head cut off...a little bird humor for you there. He was having so much fun feeding ducks, peeking into cages, and yes, chasing pigeons. He did occasionally stand still long enough to get his picture taken. Above we have Gabe, Grandma Linda, and Grandpa Scott.

The aviary had a few of these wooden cutouts and Gabe loved them all. He loved getting his picture taken and when we would try to walk away, he would get a little cranky until he saw something with feathers and then he would forget. Phew for short attention spans.

It has been a great summer so far. We love being able to get out in the sunshine and spend time together as a family. We wish Sera could be here with us and miss her fun-loving spirit. We know that she wishes she could be here with us too.

Sorry for the long blog but you should see what I didn't put in! I will try to not be such a slacker and post more frequently but honestly I say that all the time. Much love to you all!

Top 10 Things I Have Recently Discovered

Here is my newest Top 10. These are things that I have recently learned or discovered about myself. I am sure many of you will see where I am coming from. Enjoy!


1. Whatever comes after the DVD I am going to boycott. Who is with me? I am not restarting my collection.
2. My child blows on his ice cream is cool it off-I don’t have the heart to correct him which proves that I really am a good mom.
3. How many times can I apply sunscreen before someone stops me and tells me I am obsessed?
4. It is easier for “You” to put on a jacket to warm up than it is for me too turn off the air conditioner and remain cool. Unless you want to see me naked, better start bringing a sweater with you!
5. I must have a cutoff time for coffee consumption.
6. There are 2 moments that I dread: The first is the moment when I am arguing with Ryan and realize that I am wrong and the second is the moment is when I realize I have leaned too far back in my chair.
7. I have put certain phone numbers in my phone before so that I can be sure I don’t pick up when you call. Question is, are you one of those people?
8. Why is it that it is when you think you can finally trust your child not to do something, they do it? I am obvisouly too trusting.
9. I hate it when people assume that I am a bitch because I like to be loud and sarcastic…wait…Nevermind. I get it now.
10. Have you ever walked out of a public bathroom smelling your hands because you like the scent of the soap and had someone stare at you? I have and let me tell you how awkward it was trying to explain that one. “No no! This isn’t what it looks like. I really did wash my hands! I just like the smell of the soap. Smells like Fruit Loops.” They never believe you and will never again ask to borrow your pen. I need to work on my timing.

P.S. More Gabe to come soon. Much love to you all!

Pure Toddler Terror

This one goes out to anyone who thinks Gabe is always an angel and offers to take him from me because he is such a sweet boy.

See that face? That Demon Howler Monkey? This happened because I wouldn’t let him use the ketchup-cover piece of popcorn fish that he had speared on the end of his fork to paint his face. For one, he would most likely poke his own eye out with the fork in the process and two, ketchup sucks to clean up. But clearly I was the meanest, most terrible mom EVER! So terrible that I even took a picture of him while he was so obviously devastated.

Other fun things Gabe does:
-Removes all the paper from the printer and spreads it generously around the house.
-Hides my flip-flops
-Turns the bathtub on and gets mad when we say it isn’t bath time
-Obsessively wants to flush the toilet
-Bangs on the wall of his bedroom when he wants OUT OUT OUT!
-Removes all the wipes from the plastic box they come in
-Drinks Ryan’s Mt Dew, or Daddy Juice as Gabe calls it, when ever he can get to it
-Refuses to eat anything not in nugget or ball form
-Uses the dishwasher door as a step-stool
-Bites my face!
-Pulls the handrail for the stairs from the wall

So this being said, do you still want to take him from me? (Either of Gabe’s grandmas will be saying YES right now.)

I love Gabe with all my heart. And despite his clearly destructive toddler behavior, I wouldn’t trade him for anything-NOT EVEN A KLONDIKE BAR!

Where's Gabe?

WAIT! I lost Gabe! Gabe? GABE?!?! Where are you???

There you are Gabe! Phew...that was close.

Also Gabe has a message for his Grandparents. Much love to you all!

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana?

Gabe has been getting better about his eating lately. I was starting to get worried because for a couple weeks he only wanting to eat Popcorn Fish and cheese. The doctor said not to worry because clearly Gabe is healthy and will eat when he is hungry.

One of the best places to take him is Sweet Tomatoes. I normally HATE buffets but this one is soup and salad only and is actually pretty good. Gabe is a fan of soup and with all the different fruits and veggies, we can usually get him to eat something.

This past Friday my parents wanted to take us to out for dinner and so we opted for something Gabe-friendly. Unfortunately he wasn't a big fan of vegtables that night but he did like the oranges.


SMILE!

Thanks to Grandpa Chad for suggesting that I get this picture. It was worth the trouble of hiding the camera from Gabe and trying to work around eating. Much love to you all!

Seriously?

Okay this is just getting ridiculous! This is a picture of my father-in-law Scott and what appears to be a MOUNTAIN OF SNOW! Linda and Scott went for a Sunday drive and this picture was taken on Cooke City Highway in Montana. Mother Nature is giving me the finger with all that snow. I am glad it is in Montana and not in Utah. If anyone else has snow pictures, send them my way! Much love to you all!

M/M/M and More!

I am going to try something new today. Today I am going to try doing an M/M/M. What is M./M/M.? It is something I saw on Facebook (Sigh…) called MakeOut/Marry/Murder. I think this is pretty self-explanatory.

M/M/M for 6-10-2011

Make Out: Republican Rep. Chris Lee
Marry: Democrat Rep. Anthony Weiner
Murder: Slim Goodbody

Allow to me to explain-Chris Lee resigned from his position as a U.S. Representative back in February because he was caught sending shirtless pics of himself to women he met on Craigslist. Lee would be a good make-out I imagine but not someone I would want to settle down with. Rep. Weiner on the other hand, he is the marrying type because as of right now he was only sending pictures-not trying to hook-up with anyone. And Slim Goodbody, that douche! Anyone who wears a roadmap to his vital organs on the outside deserves what he gets.

As for Gabe, he is doing great. He is big into safety right now and is wearing his protective head-gear. Interesting side note: that bucket also serves as a basketball hoop, water pail, giant blue shoe, and oddly-shaped and not-too-effective spoon. P.S. My M/M/M is in no way a reflection of how I feel about my husband. Ryan is the BEST and I would not trade him for 1,000,000 perverted pictures from Government Officials. (And if that isn’t true love then I don’t know what is!)