Aidan Wilde, Mail Commando. . .

Aidan is forever hunting through the mail to try to find something addressed to him. Most days he's disappointed, of course. He dutifully writes to Grammy all the time, and she does her best to keep up. Today he got a letter addressed to:

Master Aidan Price Wilde
"Mail Commando"

Inside he found the cutest card with $10 taped inside and instructions to plan a family date, take us out for ice cream afterwards, and then write a letter (in pictogram I'm sure) back reporting on how it went and what we did. He says it's the "best mail ever!" He's already been scheming and I heard something about a berry patch and then cold stone afterwards . . . sounds like Heaven to me! Thanks Grammy! This is a great letter and a great project!

Joining the Club

Two weeks ago I had a momentary lapse of sanity and decided I would train for and race in a sprint triathlon at the end of August (1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and a 5K on the end). Peer pressure got the best of me, I suppose. Many of my girlfriends in my ward train for and compete in these races, and after going to see them race and take pictures for them, I just couldn't stand it. I just can't let them be so much cooler than me any more!

So I've joined the club. The club of 30 somethings whose metabolisms just aren't what they were when they were 20 somethings, and need some motivation. Add in a child or four and there you have it, I need to workout more. Busting your booty just to work it out just isn't really very fun, but training for a race has been really fun! (especially with friends) I'm learning to swim and I've already gone 4 1/3 miles in the water in two weeks (I'm kind of proud, can you tell?). I never liked lap swimming before, but now that I'm really learning how to do it, I'm loving it. It's my favorite work out day. Bike day is my hard day. My legs are weak sauce.

I'm sure I will regret this decision (like at about Mile 8 of the bike), but so far I've had a lot of fun trying to get ready. 5 weeks to go. 24 workouts left before the race. Oh, and one baby to get on a bottle by then. Heaven help us if she decides she's hungry and I'm just hopping off my bike. :) Maybe we should be wishing Gordon good luck? (love you hunny!)

Anybody else want to join the club?

Rock Climbing

For the kids Birthdays, Gordon and I have been trying to avoid "stuff" and give them a memorable experience. So far, this has been a great success! For Ethan's Birthday a few weeks ago we gave him a week long parent/child rock climbing class with Daddy. Every day last week I dropped him off with Dad after work, and they climbed at this indoor wall. Ethan did great! He loved the experience, and is looking forward to more climbing in the future. His teacher was impressed with his strength and ability to pull himself up on about anything! He really loved the low climbing or "bouldering." Here's some pics. . .

Berry Sweet!

Keren comes up with the best ideas! Today it was picking raspberries at a local farm. The boys had a great time, especially Ethan and Aidan. They picked SO MANY BERRIES! We are going to make Jam sometime next week. I'm hoping to head back for boysenberries (my favorite!) next week as well. What a fun summertime thing to do! Thanks Keren!

5 Months Old

My little sweetie is 5 months old today! And it's a good thing it's a "milestone day" or I MIGHT be tempted to grumble about what a terrible sleeper she's been for the past few days. But, since it's her "birthday," I won't. I won't write about how I got up 5 times in the night with her and then finally gave up and snuggled her in the bed. Or how she seems to want to nurse all night, but so infrequently during the day. But, like I said, it's her birthday. So I wont! :)

Let's see. . . Milestones. . . rolling from tummy to back (no more tummy time for her!) and lots of giggles!!! A sweet little thing!!! Love her to bits. . . and LOVE taking her photo. I'm particularly pleased with how this months photo shoot turned out. Aidan took the top picture, and is so proud it "made the blog!" Enjoy!

Keep out of reach of children

Tonight, as I was doing dishes, and Gordon was scrubbing the floor, our little angel Chandler got into a bit of trouble. Apparently he was feeling older than his 2 years when he climbed the shower and got my razor down, and then proceeded to shave with it. We are so grateful that the boys came yowling down the stairs that there was a "chandler alert!" and let us know to come running. He got away almost unscathed, except for a little nick on his nose and chin, for which we are really grateful. We let him look in the mirror at the blood and scared him good so as to not repeat this incident, but then he got the traditional toilet paper treatment. This one sure is keeping us on our toes, and helping us to find new ways to put ALL SHARP OBJECTS well out of reach. Oh Chandler. . . you're going to keep things interesting, aren't you. . .

Ethan's Talk

Here is a video for the Grandparents of Ethan rehearsing his talk he gave yesterday. Thanks so much for the quick sending of photos!!! He did a great job. . .

Batter Up!

This week has been filled with baseball for us. Every morning Aidan has had Baseball camp, which he is loving. He loves it when they get done with practice and they play an actual game. I am sighing another little sigh of relief at the end of this week. It's strange how I'm so excited to start our new activities at the beginning of the week (baseball, swimming, basketball) and so ready to be done with them at the end of the week! We pretty much have next week off and I'm looking forward to a break from the structure. Here's some pics!

All Comers Track Meet

We had such fun last night at the "all comers" track meet the parks and rec department puts on for free every Wednesday of the summer. They had categories for everyone from Chandler to Adult. The kids LOVED it. And I don't think I've ever seen anything as cute in my life as the "2 and under" 50 yard dash. Well, maybe the "2 and under" 100 yard dash. Chandler was eating it up, and even won third in his division! Go Chandler Go! The moment his race was over he'd yell "again!" We're entering him in hurdles next time. :) The big boys loved it as well. They each raced about 5 times. We'll definitely be back!

a new skill

I have spent the last few weeks working on a new dress for Emilee. It's way huge, and I'm thinking Easter 2010 is probably when it will make its debut, but I wanted to work on something that wasn't too tiny for my first try.

It is hand smocked and I am so excited that I finally have an excuse to learn this skill I have been wanting to try for so long. You can't smock for boys, it's totally sissy. But you can totally smock for girls! Smocking in case you have no idea what I'm talking about are all those teeny tiny pleats across the front. Then you embroider across the top and the embroidery creates the design and holds it together.

This pattern was lots of fun with smocking on the sleeves as well. I had such a great time doing it, I'm predicting many a smocked dress for my little peanut. Maybe even one that will fit her next time! :) Here are some photos.

Here it is modeled on a live person. (Come on people, I had to see it on a real body and not a hanger!!! It looks totally different!) And he, uh, I mean, "they" were a very cooperative model, who thought putting on a dress was a completely hilarious experience. He, I mean "they" ran around laughing hysterically and squealing "I a girl!" in a funny high voice. It was a crack up. I could hardly get it off of him. I mean them.

Ta Da!

a Core workout

We could probably all take a lesson from little Emilee this week and work on our "cores." Abs, that is. All week she's been crunching and doing v-ups whenever we put her down. We think she's probably getting those muscles all ready to roll! You go tiny girl. . .

The Hustler

Okay, he's not really Hustling the game, but I keep thinking of that song. Know when to hold um, when to fold um, know when to WALK AWAY, know when to RUN!

Aidan came home from Alaska OBSESSED with the game UNO. It's not hard for him to become obsessed with a game. He loves games, and is very competitive. But oh my goodness! This has got to be a new record even for him. I swear he asks to play at least 20 times a day. Gordon and I were just commenting that if we would sit down and play this game as for as long as he wanted to, we'd probably play for upwards of 3 hours. It's crazy! So if anybody needs an UNO fix, swing by our house! You'd make a little fella very happy! Just make sure you get the house rules down before you start!
Infinite draw. . . sneakers. . .stack able draw twos. . . and don't forget to say UNO!!!

What have we been doing this week?

I've stepped on one airplane too many. . .

Seriously. I've had it with toys. They have taken over my house, and I think we do a pretty good job on inventory control. So on Thursday, after stepping on my 5th airplane of the morning, I declared that I had "had it."

All toys were to be locked into the closets. Yes, all. I cleaned up EVERY toy in the house, upstairs, downstairs, under beds, dressers, hiding in the sofa. I got them ALL. And they all went into their proper bins with lids on and stacked into the closet. Even the "mish mash" bucket that holds the random toys. My intention was to lock the closet with a child lock, but our closets handles are too wide spread, so I couldn't. So, I, the queen of the house, proclaimed a new rule. The boys (all 3 at once) may have out ONE toy or "set" at a time. When they are done, it must be completely cleaned up and put away before asking permission to get out another toy or set. (yes, they must ask, and yes, I occasionally say no)

I thought I would hear weeping and whaling and gnashing of teeth. But instead, I heard "Thanks for cleaning it up mom, there is so much room to run now!" from Aidan. From Ethan on a separate occasion, "Mom, thanks for cleaning up my toys, they were a mess."

No complaining. No fighting about it. No problems at all. In fact, my boys have discovered that it's actually fun to play together again. Go outside. Practice the piano. And, it's working! They are cleaning them up no problem and putting them away. The way it's supposed to be! Little did I know all I had to do was completely eradicate the toys from the house. The best part is, they play together! It's been fun to watch them work togteher more these last few days. . . I hope it continues!!!

Cooin' and Gooin'

She Speaks! She's been very talkative lately, and I love it! I love baby noises. She's also had a recent fascination with her tongue. She is always sticking it out and trying to lick anything that comes her way. I think she even gags on it in the video for a moment. What a cutie!

Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

How can it be that my little boy is 7 years old today? Time is surely flying by. I can't stand it! But, with each new birthday comes new adventures and fun. This morning he opened his presents at Breakfast and was so excited to find Heeley's, which he has been asking for, for over two years! We finally think he's big enough and gave Grammy and Grampy permission. So now he can terrorize everyone and roll along through Costco every week. What fun! Gordon and I gave him a rock climbing class he will attend with Daddy later this month, every day for a week. He's very excited!!! Happy Birthday Ethan, we love you so much! Here is a picture of you every year on your birthday. . .

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and Great Big 7!