rAnDomNeSs

Here are a few random ramblings of late.

Bennett and John are doing really well with their speech...Bennett in particular loves to tell you about what happened during the day...he is becoming quite the talker.

Taylor is enjoying her summer and is DYING to go swimming...almost everyday she asks..."mom can we go swimming today?" I just haven't felt brave enough to take all three of them by myself yet...we'll get there don't worry....oh well and the weather hasn't helped much either!! She is still just a little smarty pants and can't wait for Kindergarten.

John is a funny dude and loves teasing everyone....A LOT!! Frankly it is getting a little old, but what do ya do...just enjoy the screaming I guess.

I have started running for the first time in my life and I really like it!! SHOCKING!! I am working on getting faster and increasing my distance a little at a time. Right now I am at about a 10 minute mile...so not too bad for someone who hasn't run before.

We are still working on our projects like crazy and hoping to get them all wrapped up so we can get some good summer playing in!! Random update...done.

Pic update...FINALLY!

I have been wanting to post some updated pictures of the kids for a long time and finally did it! YAY to me! Last night we took the kids to the park after dinner and we were smart enough to bring the camera...again YAY to us! So here are some of the fun moments we captured...I think that we may have some of the cutest most photogenic kids around.

This was hilarious trying to get 3 kids to smile in the same direction at the same time...after about 30 pictures Kirk and I were both saying.."ok on the count of 3 who wants to go feed the ducks.....1.....2.....3.."....then as the chorus of "MEEEEEEE" rang out Kirk would snap as many as he could hoping that one would work....this one is John's latest excited face. When he gets excited he squeezes his hands as tight as he can and shakes his arms...hilarious.

This is John trying to avoid Momma kisses.....he really does love them I am sure!

We did manage to get one with 3 smiles all looking in the same direction...miraculous I say....now just need to photoshop out the trailer in the background.

My boys! They are at a really fun age right now. Both are doing really well with their speech and really talking a lot...THANK GOODNESS! For a while there their favorite form of communication was to scream at the top of their lungs until someone fixed whatever was wrong...we love words. Speaking of words I think it is so funny the words they pick for some things...for example....'Papa'=grampa...not so weird but wait...'papa' also=tractor...why you ask??? Well Grampa Welling has a tractor...nope not just one but 2 papas (they are sure to correct if you say that grampa has one tractor). Anytime we talk about Gramma and Grampa Welling, Bennett always says, "Bib lellow papa out?" Translation..."Is grampas big yellow tractor out?" Their favorite thing ever is to ride the tractor with Grampa. They learned very early that when some big machine backs up it beeps...I even caught John walking backwards down the haul beep beeping tonight. Grampa is also teaching Taylor how to steer the tractor...she LOVES it as you can imagine..she'll be able to plow the fields in no time!!

I love this picture!! Another miraculous thing happened this night. John actually left the house without his Nebraska beanie on. It is bright red and about a week ago he decided it was his new favorite thing to wear ALL the time....he even sleeps with the thing on. Amazingly enough he left without it last night...but he was sure to wear it to the car show tonight. And no, we are not Nebraska fans....our neighbors however are and they got the boys beanies last winter.

I just love this kid!!! Look at that dimple!!!

This is Bennett taking after Momma and Daddy and practicing his yoga moves...I think this one is called triangle pose.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of little Bennett serious face....he was chasing after a crow and was a little disappointed that it got away.

And here is miss almost ready for Kindergarten herself!!! It seems we have hit a bit of a rough spot with this little lady lately. We are in the HUGE tantrum phase...highly emotional at the drop of a hat it seems. I know you are all thinking how could you ever be upset at that little face...well it happens folks! Hopefully it is just a phase and that we will soon kick it to the curb!!! She is loving her new bed and doing well with the new responsibility of making a BIG bed every morning. The other thing she loves doing lately is talking on the phone. She usually calls one of her grammas and talks and talks until they politely say that they need to get back to doing whatever they were doing. She is a funny little lady.

The great Bed Switcharoo

It is almost time to start the great potty training of the boys.....SOOOO...that leads to them sleeping in BIG BOY beds....I know I know why do it before the time is here....pretty much shooting myself in the foot with naps but whatdya do? We have twin beds for them but Taylor was using one so that means she got a new BIG bed too!! This is her new big bed. This bed switching has turned into quite the project for momma...(only because I wanted it to be though!)...I made Taylor's bedskirt and appliqued the pillows and refinished the headboard (which you can't really see because of the great pillows-but it is great it also has polka dots). Anyway her bed project was finished yesterday and she was so excited to sleep on a BIG princess bed...and she slept like a princess too!! I have a couple more decor things that I want to make for her walls and when I get those all done I will post pics of those too! But for now here is the bed. Her walls are bright purple so the bright green comforter looks so cute.

I love the way it turned out and can't wait to get the boys' beds done now!! Just wait till you see those! I am making their comforters and have some ideas for some fun decor for their walls!! I LOVE PROJECTS!!!!

Speaking of projects....here is another project we are working on...and it is going to be SO great too! For mother's day Kirk and the kids surprised me with an antique dining table and chairs. It was one I had found on KSL and had been drooling over for a little while. We think it was built in the 20's or 30's, but it is still in really great condition.

I just LOVE the chairs! And to make them even greater my dad found some leather that he has had for YEARS (probably from a moose he killed back in the day) and it is gorgeous and he is going to let us have it to reupholster the chair bottoms!! Our plan is to paint it black and I can hardly wait!! We got the paint stripped off the table this weekend so now we just need to do the 6 chairs. Kirk has a buddy that is a carpenter and he is going to do a new table top out of hard wood for us and help us paint it and sturdy everything up. Whatdya think? Great right?

Oh and you can see Taylor's headboard in the background there...also a fun project!!! I got to breakout the table saw for that one...I added the beadboard panel to the inside before I painted it..it totally updated it!! Not bad for $15!!! Well that is what the Chuggs are working on in a nutshell...more pics to come as we go!!!

BEST Birthday Ever!

For Momma's birthday on Monday Kirk took the day off! YAY! So it already had great potential. Kirk and I woke up early for our usual morning of butt-kicking exercise and then I opened some presents! Taylor made me a super cute little potted flower and a plaque that she painted all by herself (with gramma's expertise helping). She was so excited to give it to me!! It is super fun! Then I got some capris from the boys aka daddy...unfortunately (or fortunately I guess) they were too big. And then Kirk gave me a surprise date!! He bought tickets to the Utah Symphony and ballet for this week and then I get to pick any restaurant to go to! That will be a super fun date. He also signed us up for a couples cooking class at Sonora Grill....YAY! I am super excited about that too!!! Then once the kiddos were fed and dressed we headed to Ogden to catch the train to SLC.
WOW...I have never seen 2 such excited little boys in my life!!! When we told them at breakfast that that was what we were going to do their faces just lit up and their eyes got HUGE!! "Toot toot tooot tooot" was all we heard until we got there. Taylor has already ridden the train twice so she was an old pro...still excited because she loves it but not nearly as excited as the boys! They were just so cute to watch! Once we got on the train they could not wait for it to move and when it did...wow heaven on a train I tell ya. They loved the whole ride down...we saw lots of "toot toots" and "papas" (tractors) and it was just plain fun! Once we got to the station we hopped on trax and went to Gateway. The boys were excited to get to ride another 'toot toot'.

It was a super nice day so we let the kiddos play in the water fountain thingy. Taylor was all for it but it took Bennett and John a few minutes of watching before they were brave enough to give it a try. Once they did they enjoyed themselves. Bennett got so excited that he accidentaly ran right throught the big sprayers and wasn't thrilled at all...his face looked like he had been shot and he just cried and cried cause he was wet. It was pretty funny. He was less brave after that. Once the kids had their fill of the water we walked around a bit and then went to applebees for lunch...they have their kids menu for 1.99 on mondays...LOVE THAT! Another happy birthday present to me they all 3 ate their food all gone and were happy!!! YAY! Thank you corndogs!! After that everyone was pretty beat so we walked back to the station to get back on the 'toot toot'. We had another exciting ride home full of trains and tractors. We got home, and put the kiddos down for nappies and I also took a nappy....again I say...HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!! After naps we fixed yummy greek pizza for dinner (my FAVORITE dinner as of late) and had a picnic on the grass. Then we had family over for treats and it was a great night!! THEN...as we were putting kiddos to bed Kirk's mom called and volunteered to come over while the kiddos were sleeping so we could go for a quick motorcycle ride!!! YAY...it was the perfect end to the night!! We drove around for a bit and then went to walmart (the only place open at 9:30) so I could try on some pants...we have been losing weight and I just wanted to see if I could squeeze into the next size down...well I DID! No squeezing required...HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME AGAIN!!! It was the best birthday EVER!!! Thanks Kirk and kiddos for making it such a great day!!

Sunday Post

Not much to say just wanted to say "Hey"......"hey!" We took the boys in to the early intervention folks this week and had their speech evaluated and they told us that they are at about the age of an average 15-18month old. Sooooo they qualified for the program. We are excited to learn more about how we can help their speech along. They both have drastically improved since their 2nd birthday but clearly we still have some work ahead of us. They sure are cute little stinks though! I realized I haven't posted any pics lately so that is my goal this week. I will take the kids outside (cross your fingers for continued warm weather) and take some fun pics and post them.

We are all very excited and ready for spring time. Today while we were eating lunch little missy said something about she couldn't wait for spring and I told her that the official first day of spring was yesterday and that it was actually already spring. You would have thought I told her I bought her a pony...her face lit up and she had permagrin on!! Then she looked at me like...your kidding right? Spring is here and I missed the arrival? It was quite the funny little exchange. Next year I will have to remember to plan a welcome spring party...I think I could really get into that!

The boutique went well. We didn't have as many people come as I had hoped but we had some great vendors!! And I thoroughly enjoyed it! A ton of work but really fun in the end.

Kirk and I are still kicking it with p90x! We love and hate it...but mostly love because of the amazing results we are seeing. And it does feel great to know that we did something extremely hard already and it is only 7 am! Makes the day seem very manageable. One morning last week Kirk had a super early meeting so we planned to exercise that night instead and let me just tell you I was miss grumpy that day! I hadn't realized how much those endorphins helped to boost my mood!!! It was crazy the difference exercising can make in my day!! So yes I am sold on p90x!!

I guess I did have something to say after all...whodathought!

I am afraid we may have a genius on our hands ladies and gentlemen!!

I was tucking little missy in bed the other night. She has a new ritual of counting all of the animals she sleeps with before she lays down to make sure they are all there (and it seems she always finds another to add to the pile). So she counted 8 animals and was glad that they were all accounted for and said, "Hmmm, if I added 2 more then I would have 10. If I added only 1 then I would have nine. If I added 2 more to the 10 then I would have 12. If I added 2 more after that I would have 12. If I added 2 more after THAT then I would have 14, and then 16, and than 18!! Wow mom wouldn't that be a lot of animals???" Once I picked my jaw off the floor I agreed with her that indeed that would be a lot of animals. Ok, so is it just me or is it AMAZING that she just counted by 2's all by herself and without even having to count it out in her head?? I was completely amazed...she is constantly amazing us with her brain power it seems.!!
On another front completely I am close to my wits end with 2 little 2 1/2 year old little boys. This morning it seemed they screamed either at me or each other for 3 hours straight! I am sure it wasn't that long but good heck it sure felt that way! And now to my great joy they are screaming in their room refusing to take a NAP!!! AAAAARRRRRHHHHHH!!! I think it is good that they can play the rest of the day outside!!!!! Mama needs a BREAK!!! Even though I just had one on Saturday I just feel plain worn out today~!!!!!

Spring Boutique!

We are having another boutique! It is Saturday March 13th from 10 am to 7 pm. I am super excited and we have a lot of super great vendors coming!! It will be so fun! Stop on by if you can!!

Quick funny

Funniest thing happened this morning. Bennett was playing with the toy vacuum and John was laying on the ground. So Bennett goes over on bonks John in the head with the vacuum. So I tell Bennett that he needs to go kiss John better and tell him he's sorry. So he turns his back to John gives me his best grumpy face and says, "NO!". So I say, ok then give me the vacuum. Again, "NO!" So I say, "Bennett give John a kiss and say your sorry or I get to keep the vacuum." He still doesn't do anything so I take the vacuum from him. So he slowly slowly walks over to John and kneels down next to him all the while looking at me with grumpy face. Then he leans down and plants a big 'ole raspberry on John's head! Bennett and John both just started laughing hysterically!!! It was hilarious!!! What a funny way to start out the day!! I love my crazy little boys.
Just in case you were wondering they are still complete boys! Throwing, crashing, smashing, hitting, bonking, screaming, running, jumping, and dumping ALL DAY LONG!! Yup and they are not even 3 yet!! HERE WE GO!
Oh and they have also entered the "MOM" stage. Here's how it goes:
S1 or S2 and sometimes both (stink 1 or 2): Mom....mom....mom...MOM.....MOM!!!!!
Mom: What Bennett (and/or John)?
S1: Mom.....mom....mom.....momm..mom.....mom!!!!
Mom: Bennett...what?!?!
S1: Mom....mom......mom.....momm.....mom!!!!
Mom: Bennett when i say what you need to tell me what you need? What do you need?
S1: uuuuuuhmmmmm
By this point either he has forgotten what he needed or he just wanted to see how long it would take before I exploded...you don't even want to know how many times a day we have this conversation!!!!
And because a post isn't a post without a little poopy story...here is what happened yesterday.
Stink 1 and Stink 2 were not going down for their nappy very well so I went in for the 12th time to give them the mean momma face and tell them to go to sleep and I find both of them butt naked!!! Bennett was happy as a jaybird with his freedom but John was screaming and kept saying "poop! poop! poop!". Yup...that's right...he pooped in his bed! What a fun mess that was to clean up!! BOYS!!! Well I learned that they both still require double onesies and safety pins for nappy time....LESSON LEARNED.....again.....

New Crochet Items!!

Check out my craft blog!!! I just posted some new items that I love!!! www.myccdesigns.blogspot.com.

Taylor's New Do!!

Taylor decided she wanted to cut her hair "short" so on Saturday we did it!! She enjoyed the experience and was so good about holding still. This was Taylor's first "official big girl" haircut. Here is before...
And here she is after...

Doesn't she look like a big kid?!? She almost looks big enough to go to Kindergarten!! Yup this August she will be off to school...we got a Kindergarten sign up this week!! It really is quite hard to believe. Hopefully I will have some time to post more soon because we have had a lot going on in this house as of late.