March 16, 2012

Some friends of ours who lived just a couple houses down, moved a bit further south almost a year ago.  They found a home to update and remodel with a horse lot and several acres of land.  There has been a standing invitation to visit for a while now.  We had a day off of school and decided to go with some other friends, too.  It is such a hassle to do anything or go anywhere with all three boys.  I am so glad I sucked it up this time and went.  Samuel and Owen really enjoyed getting out and doing something, especially with friends.  Emmett was a great sport, hanging out in my hip sling most of the time.  And I really enjoyed a little break from the norm and some social interaction with grown ups! 

So, our friends have a horse, a pony, a goat, chickens, and ducklings.  Owen was most excited about the ducklings, and kept finding his way over there, again and again.  Samuel hopped right on to the pony and "yeehaw"-ed his way around their land.  After a few pony rides, he was anxious to try out the horse.  Owen begged to get on the pony, so I put him on.  When I saw his face, I thought for sure he was going to ask to get off.  He kept that same serious, almost concerned expression, but did not want to get off.  When the ride was done, he jumped off with a huge grin and said, "I want to go again!"  Funny kid.  So he had a few more pony rides, too.  Then he and Sam went on the horse.  I even climbed my big butt up and took each of the boys for a little ride. 

At one point in the afternoon, I heard Samuel yell, "Mom!!!  Owen's going into the chicken coooooop!"  By the time I got there, all the chickens were backed up into a corner, and sure enough, there was Chicken Owen, strutting around like he owned the place.

Emmett was not really a fan of the wind, and he was definitely not a fan of the cowboy hat!

Sam got handed a duckling first, while O sat there, hands cupped, begging, "I'm ready to hold a duck now, I'm ready I'm ready!"

It really was such a fun afternoon!  I am so glad for kind and generous friends.  The boys have talked about it several times since.  I think we will have to go back again soon.  

Ok, so here are a few other things from January . . . the long, cold, boring month of January.  Thank goodness it's over.  And that I'm finally documenting it 3 weeks later. 

Sofa cushion mountains/forts are one of the boys' favorite things to do.

Lots of play dates with friends to keep us busy.

Rockin' a killer outfit. 

Chubbs helping with the laundry.

Owen making sure Em was sufficiently entertained.

Potty training!!!  I'm not sure what O is showing you . . . probably the number of times he peed on the floor that day.

A little bit more snow.  He was "building a fortress to proctect us from the trolls."

Sam helping me make dinner.  I was whining about how much I hate cutting onions.  Samuel saved the day with his matter-of-fact solution, "We just need our sunglasses on!"

I love birthdays.  So does Sam.  He's been anticipating his birthday since the first of his older buddies turned 5 back in May.  Of course I couldn't disappoint.   Saturday was "Party Day" with Samuel's friend party in the morning.  He had designated it a fireman birthday months before.  Which was perfect, since the house happened to be on fire when Sam woke up that morning.  We had planned a big obstacle course in the backyard for our little firemen to earn their badges, but we woke up to rain and had to improvise quickly.  I shrunk down the obstacle course to fit inside, and we were still able to rescue the cat from the tree, climb through the burning tunnel, spin around on the fire engine, jump over the laundry baskets (yeah nothing creative for that part), then spray out the burning building.  We also played a Pin the Tail on the Donkey type game with dressing a fireman, hot potato, stop drop and roll, and toss the firetruck into the burning building beanbag toss style.  We had ignitable cupcakes that each firefighter had to blow out, and per request so many months ago, a pinata.  Samuel and his fire fighting friends had a great time!

That night was Chuck E. Cheese.  But first we had the traditional stop at Toys R Us to use the birthday Geoffrey dollars.  Again, lots of fun.  I love any excuse for special time as a family.

Sunday was Samuel's birthday.  He woke up to balloons and a birthday banner in his room.  He asked me for days how I got them in there, like he couldn't believe I did it all while he was sleeping.  I heard Sam was beyond giddy when he was sung to in Primary.  (First year that I wasn't in there to see, *sniff*)  Sam got to open one present while Owen napped, Cars 2.  When Owen got up we finished presents, and then had pancakes for dinner, another birthday request made ages ago.

We sure do love our funny not-so-little-anymore Sam.  He is overflowing with personality.  He is sassy and quite the back-talker.  But he is also friendly, thoughtful, and polite.  Samuel loves to ride his bike, play with his friends, watch Wild Kratts, drive his monster trucks, and learn new things.  He changes his clothes a bajillion times a day.  Sam loves pancakes, bananas, raisin bread, and "cow milk."  He loves fighting, shooting, killing, swords, and guns, *sigh.*  He still struggles to write his S and doesn't color in the lines, but he can tell you 8 different names for Bigfoot.  He is growing up and learning so much so fast.  He makes us smile, he makes us happy, he makes us pull our hair out, and he makes up laugh.  And I absolutely cannot for the live of me get a decent picture of this boy.  Happy 5 years, Sambo!!  

I really wanted to make this summer a good one before Little Lambert entered our lives and shook things up a bit.  We really had such a great summer and did so many fun things.  In fact, the first two weeks with Baby at home, Samuel asked every day, "What's today, a pool day?  A friend day?  A park day?  A field trip day?"  The boys didn't really know what to do with themselves hanging out at home all day every day!

August 6, 2011

So the Saturday before D-Day, I wanted to make sure we had one last family hurrah before we became a Party of Five!  We kept it low key, just playing at the park and splash pad all afternoon then finishing up the evening at Cafe Rio.  But it was still a lot of fun to have the special time together.

August 8, 2011

I figured we better fit in a last hurrah with the friends, too.  So the Monday before D-Day, we headed up to the children's museum in Salt Lake.  We've been there so many times, but it never gets old.  And it's always good for a day-long outing with our friends!

The teacher we've taken gymnastics classes from for the last several years through Mapleton decided to change directions a bit.  She moved to a local gymnastics place and took over the mobile gymnastics bus with her son.  We set it up for the month of June.  So each Wednesday, the gymnastics bus parked in front of our house and we had classes with our neighbors!  There was such a huge response, that we had to split the group into 2 classes.  It was a lot of fun, and the boys enjoyed it lots.  They loved watching out the window each Wednesday for the bus to show up.  We love Teacher Deana, and she once again did a great job with the kids.

9 of the 14 kiddos.

The parade this year was a first for us.  We've never been before.  And with the early morning wake up call, plus knowing he had to go back into work later that afternoon, we couldn't talk Erik into coming to this little celebration.  Thankfully, our awesome neighbors, who are pros at Art City Days, hooked us up.  The staked out our spots the night before, then gave us the run down about the cool parts and the best ways to get candy.  It was so much fun.  The very beginning started with the police force on their motorcycles doing cool little tricks and formations, and all the firetrucks, ambulance, squad cars, etc, following behind.  Sirens and horns fuuuuuull force.  Even after being warned, Samuel still ended up busting into tears and burying his sensitive little ears in Mark's lap.  Owen sat there wide-eyed and holding pretty tight to my legs while I covered his ears for him, but he kept it together just fine.  After that, everyone was ready to go candy chasing.  It took Sam a few tires to get the hang of it (ie, not break down into a fit every time a bigger kid got to the tootsie roll before him) but once Owen showed him a thing or two, everyone was having a blast.  The rest of the parade was really neat; very small-town, homey, and quaint.  Owen's favorite thing was the horses.  Samuel said his favorite thing was the monster trucks.  Have I told you how much I love where we live?!

June 10, 2011

The Children's Parade was another activity we had a blast at last year, and wanted to make sure we did again this year.  The day before, we met up at a friend's house with several other neighbors and kids and had a big bike/stroller decorating free-for-all.  The next morning, some of us took off from our house and walked, and we met everyone else over there. 

"Who's ready for the parade?!"

Samuel was sooooo ornery, and he was borrowing a bike since his was busted and we hadn't had a chance to fix it yet.  I don't know what the big deal was, but he whined about it the whole time.  At the beginning, he popped one of his balloons (because HE BIT IT!) and threw a fit.  Also, his two best buddies, Gabe and Jacob, both have Strider bikes.  The three of them were so great about stopping when we moms and little ones needed to catch up, but each and every time they started back up again, Gabe and Jacob could peel off in their peddle-less bikes, and it took Sam a whole 3.5 seconds to catch up.  Which meant aother fit every single time.  Ugh. 

The Three Amigos?  I vote the Three Stooges.

Owen on the other hand, was darling.  He loved riding in the wagon, and was only a tiny bit put off for just a short moment when he had to share with Emily.   O sat there watching, pointing, talking, and taking it all in.

Sam finally cheered up when he got his "prize" and snow cone.  We hung out enjoying the sunshine and sugary ice with our friends.  Then we walked back home.  I was poooooooooooped!!!  But in the end, it was a really fun and exciting morning, and we sure did enjoy ourselves.     

What, you didn't know Bubba J was this cool?

June 6, 2011

I love living in Springville.  I love that we've been here long enough to feel really comfortable and at home.  Every year, Art City Days is a favorite thing about our little city.  We started the events off on Monday with the Teddy Bear Tea at the library.  Samuel brought one of his monkeys, and Owen brought his doggie.  There was a program in the basement to start it off, with a skit/story time/whatever-you-want-to-call it that might have lasted a tad too long, but the boys still mostly enjoyed.  Samuel eagerly sat on the rug with his buddy Jacob and 100 other kids while Owen was more content to hang back with Mom and eat his Cheerios. 

After the program, we were shipped outside for the rest of the activities.  There was an obstacle course set up to be like you were traveling the world, complete with a swamp (kiddie pools), a forest (giant playground balls, not sure how that works, but oh well), caves (a couple large pipes), a mountain (slide), and a desert (hula hoops, again, not quite sure…) and a reward of watered down Kool-Aid punch once you made it around the world. 

There was also a place to make your own magic carpet (a graham cracker with frosting and sprinkles) that Samuel was not interested in.  He was distracted by the parachute, which he played at with Jacob.  They got to toss their animals around on it and do a few other fun things.  Owen, however, was turning into a pill by now, and just wanted to eat rainbow sprinkles which he picked off his magic carpet, and then kept running back to the table to get some from the cute high school volunteer who was smitten by him and kept giving him more. 

We made some hippo hats, passed right by the "Princesses" reading stories (the Springville Royal Court?  Things like that make me grateful I have all boys) and got ready to head home.  I insisted on a picture of the two boys together on the bench.   Remember this adorable photo from last year??  I was dumb enough to think I could recreate it, or at least get something just as precious, a year later.

The boys were sooooo done and coming apart at the seams, particularly O.  So this is the best I walked away with.  Pretty much sums up the morning, I'd say.  I still think they're cute, though.

We did grab an ice cream cone on the way home, the first of the season, so that took care of some substantial cheering up.  And so did the naps that followed shortly after.

May 14, 2011

A guy in our neighborhood, who has a boy Sam’s age, spread the word about t-ball in Mapleton that he would be coaching. I jumped on that so fast. Samuel was beside himself giddy when we went out to get him a baseball mitt before his first practice. There are several other neighborhood friends of ours on the team, so that added to the excitement. Add in the fact that Samuel found out his team was the Giants and he could barely contain himself.

So the games go like this . . . each player on Team A gets a turn to hit the ball and run a base while all the players on Team B play the field. There are no offical outs, no score keeping, and lots of parents out on the field. Then Team A and Team B switch. Do that two more times, and the game is over. It’s a ton of fun and I think a great way to teach a bunch of 4 year olds the fundamentals of sportmanship and teamwork.

Sam is the one in the huge orange t-shirt and black hat.    He’s #2.

After a few weeks of practice, it was Mapleton Baseball Opening Day, complete with first games, parade, and hot dogs in the park. I dropped Sam and Erik off a few minutes before the 9:00 game and planned to scope out the parade set up when I remembered I was supposed to get balloons for our team! Dang it. I was so ticked at myself, and I ended up missing most of Samuel’s first game, but Erik caught me up and took some great videos, too. Our senstive hearted Sam has a really hard time when he isn’t the one to catch the ball, or if he misses it, or if he doesn’t tag a player out, or if he gets stuck with the pink helmet, or each time they do their team cheer that’s too loud and hurts his ears, or or or . . . ! But, he still loves it and looks forward to each practice and game, and I think it’s a really good learning experience for him. Go Giants!

Cutie little spectator.

“1-2-3 Goooooo GIANTS!”

Add Lambert in a few months, and we’re well on our way to having our own Briggs Fam team.

Yeah, you try to get ten 4 and 5 years olds riding in the back of a truck to all look and smile.

The parade.  Can you spy Sam in the bottom right?  That’s the back of his blonde little head in the corner.  Only pic we got of him in the actual parade.  I ran after the truck screaming and waving my arms trying to get his attention, just so he would know we were there.  I still don’t think he saw us.

December 21, 2010

The forecast the night before was for cold rain to melt the little bit of snow that was still hanging around from a previous storm.  Ehhh, wrong!  We woke up Tuesday morning to a big ol’ dumping of snow!  Sam was giddy.  Owen was in awe.  The local schools were closed for the first time in 35 years!  (Preschool was only delayed an hour.)  It was beautiful!  Until I had to shovel the whole driveway so we could even get out.  Samuel was dyyyyyying to get out there and play, so after school and lunch, he and I bundled up while Owen napped.  First on Sam’s list was snow angels.  Next was apparently snow balls, but he quickly learned you don’t engage in a snowball fight unless BOTH parties are willing to particpate.  Then it was time for a snow man, and quick stop by from Grandpa W.  (More snowballs!) 

Later that afternoon, Sam wanted to go out again so he asked his neighbor buddy to come play with him.  Both us Moms figured the boys would make it maybe 10 minutes before whines of cold fingers and wet toes.  Ehhh, wrong again!  They played in our backyard for almost an hour and a half!!  They pushed trucks around, trudged through the snow, played in the covered club house, and dug out a fort in the bushes.  It was a very very successful snow day.  I might not be ready to move to CA just yet!

The backyard.  I should’ve taken a picture of Erik’s car completely buried in our driveway that I got to dig out.

Samuel with Samsam the Snowman. 

I gave Sam permission to have a snowball fight with Samsam the Snowman.

So much fun!  He couldn’t stop licking and eating the snow.

I spy a Bubba Lumps watching from the warmth of the window!