Grandma Mary bought sponge curlers for Charlotte's hair and I was really excited to try them in her hair. She didn't even mind sleeping in them. I took the curlers out and took that picture. Then she demanded that I brush them out. She didn't even make it to church with the curls. I was so sad.

Just playing around the other day. Don't they look sweet?

This was how Ben danced for a while. He has already grown out of it, so I'm glad we were able to catch it on camera. And yes, my house normally is that messy. Charlotte is in a puzzle mode. Ben is in destruction mode. Some mothers of boys tell me this is not a phase, but just a male thing. So Charlotte will finish a puzzle and Ben will beg to "knock, knock". Charlotte is really patient with him. He really still only says one phrase or word at a time. I'm sure he could do more, he just seems content. He says what he needs to say and nothing more.

Charlotte has really enjoyed taking pictures with the camera, but I'll spare you the pictures. Just know she does a great job!

This picture's just funny. Charlotte is still hesistant about preschool as she is sure the "fire department" (smoke detector) is going to go off and so doesn't want to go. Last time a tractor was beeping while backing up and she assimilates the two. Still working on trying to figure that one out cuz she has a great time when she does go. Congratulations to our good friends the Newmans. They had their little baby Zackary. Mom had no pain medication. I asked Doug if he thought I was strong enough to do that. He kinda agreed to that but said that it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience. I guess to him me screaming and squeezing the life out of his hand doesn't make for an enjoyable birthing experience. I understand.

Preschool and Twilight

So I finally just discovered these books. Where have I been, I don't know. I read all of them last week. And yes, they're cheesy but I love them. I'm always a sucker for a good love story. I used every nap time and bed time to cram them in, and I'm glad I'm done. I'm a little angry that the author is being pouty about the 5th book and is refusing to finish. But then again, what do I know? I'm not an author.
I'm glad I've had those books because Ben has decided to hit his terrible twos early. He's driving us nuts. Yes, I know I've said that before, but it's still true. He is amazingly funny still though. Today Charlotte and I went to Old McDonalds and played (McDonalds) and ran some errands while Doug and Ben watched the football game and had some good bonding time. Charlotte and I ran into all sorts of family today. We love living close to so much family.
But the biggest news is that Charlotte started preschool. Doug's cousin Shauna lives in Lehi and had an opening. Charlotte loves it. I'm still a little iffy. It's a long drive and it's hard to leave her. Plus, Ben still hates the car. Anyway, she is so excited. She woke up at 3:30 Tuesday morning all ready to go. It's all I can do to keep her in the house til 9:30. She has made friends with the boys already, which doesn't surprise me. It's amazing to me how much she loves it. This way too, Ben and I get some one on one time.I don't have any pictures yet to post, but Shauna took some so I hope to have some soon.
Doug had an ok time in St Joe for work, though no one loves 4 hours of sleep a night. It's gotten colder here which I'm oddly sad about. I didn't realize I liked blazing heat. Anyway, that's about it for now

Dinosaur Museum

We went to Thanksgiving Point's dinosaur museum the last Tuesday of the $2 deals. The kids had a good time, but it was definitely not worth the $8 or $10 it normally is. Well, I wasn't a big fan, but judging by all the pictures of dead dinosaur bones Doug took, I think he rather enjoyed it. I won't bore you with too many of those here. The above picture is Jaden, our ever energetic neighbor. He always makes sure the kids have more fun.


I'd love to actually see a turtle this big, so I was fairly impressed with this one.


Looking past the snot, it's a pretty cute picture, though I'm not biased. We somehow managed to forget the stroller so Ben spent half of the time on my hip. He is, though, much more outgoing than Charlotte. It's easy to love both kids because I love them both for different reasons. Charlotte is sweet and timid and nurturing, just like I was. Ben, on the other hand, is a ham and bold and runs into situations I would never try.

The whole trip took a little over an hour. Charlotte loved the star tunnel and the sandy water and Ben loved digging for fossils. I'm not sure how much they learned about the evolution of the earth, but I'm not worried!

Bad Mommy

So on Monday night we went over with Charlotte what you should do for different disasters like earthquakes, fires and tornadoes (Doug informed me the best place for a tornado is in the tub...did not know that). We talked about when the fire alarm goes off you should run to the nearest door and to the mailbox. Genius Mommy then had Daddy "go to the kitchen" and set off the fire alarm. She had never heard it before and I wanted to make sure she knew what to do. She ran outside with me and Ben and waited very carefully for the firemen to come. We finally convinced her it was just a drill and I thought we were done. Now anytime she goes into or out of her bedroom she needs to have someone with her because she's sure the alarm is going to go off again. She actually seems fairly terrified that it's going to make that horrible noise. It's been 3 days now and it shows no sign of letting up. She woke up from her nap this afternoon and wouldn't leave her bedroom because of the fire detector. Some would say I shouldn't complain about this.......but it's the principal of the matter. I can't remember her being afraid of anything so much. Ideas?

Boating

We had the wonderful opportunity to go boating with some friends of ours that we met back in Spokane, the Bradleys. Charlotte is friends with their little girl Nicole and her mom Marla is honestly the nicest person I know.

Nicole's Dad, Jared, let Charlotte steer the boat with her. She felt oh so important. Plus, we didn't crash so that's always good.



Ben doesn't ever like to stay still so it didn't surprise us that every time they cut the engine Ben ran back to the end of the boat so he could jump off into the water. Ever fearless. He saw the girls diving and put his hands together like their so he could jump off.


Charlotte eventually decided that the water wasn't too bad. Much to our surprise, her favorite part was tubing. She would have gone all day if we had let her. The whole time she asked to go faster and go back and forth over the badump (the wake) and she never got scared. She even sat all by herself.


Ben got sunburned a little on his face, but luckily I got sunburned the worst. Charlotte and Doug escaped with little more than a tan.

Doug and Jared were bruised for days afterwards when Marla flung them off the tube. They flipped and hit the water twice before finally splashing in. Doug said it felt like he got hit by 2 by 4s. Marla and I managed to stay on our tube the whole time, though I bet that had more to do with Jared's kindness than our skill. We also got to kneeboard, though it wasn't half as fun as the tubing.


We're in the middle of a sickness. Both Ben and Charlotte have had fevers for two nights. But that didn't stop us from going to the Highland Parade where we picked up oodles of candy. Of course, we'll end up eating more of it than the kids, but that's the way it goes, right?

Vacation Continued

Yes, I know I'm a slacker. Doug's vacation seems like forever ago. Doug's cousin owns a few horses and his wife took us over to go see his horses. They were the friendliest horses I had ever met. We were unable to ride them, and I think I enjoyed the horses the most, but it's the thought that counts, right? We fed them lots of weeds and lasted as long as we could in the heat.





We also took the kids on their first train ride. Well, not really a train, TRAX, but they'll never know the difference! Charlotte loved it. Ben thought it was wonderful because he was able to sit on Mommy's lap.


Here's Daddy and Charlotte on the train.


We took the kids up to Temple Square. We've been here 10 months now and just finally made it up there. We took the tour of the Conference Center and the Visitors Center. Charlotte, through the whole thing, kept asking when we were going to ride the train again.


This one is my favorite

Between Doug and I our kids didn't stand a chance of being able to open their eyes for pictures.


Here's Charlotte in the gardens


Here's a great picture of the Temple that Doug took.

You know you made something good when