A little bit of August...

I've found that I have a lot more to say when I blog more frequently. Turns out I remember more about what we were doing two weeks after it happened versus two months after it happened. Whoda thunk?

Jude doing Jude. Have I mentioned that he loves to play peek a boo? He is hiding his face here.

Apparently I was really impressed with the smoked pork flatbread sandwich I made for myself. That explains why there is a picture of it. (I really like my flatbread recipe. We use it for all kinds of sandwiches and mini pizzas. It's delicious.)

Painting the kitchen/living room area. Nate had fun filling in all the nail holes above the stairs.

More before pictures.

Everything shoved into the middle of the front room. I hope to paint this room someday too, but Nate and I are having disagreements on color. I think it should be a tannish-yellowish-goldish-mustardish color, and he is wrong.

Papa being a monkey and jumping on the van to entertain the children.

A fabulous Lego creation, this time by yours truly.

Some word art I made for our bedroom, the kids' playroom, and the little boys' room. I love how they turned out! Now I just need more frames/ways to hang them up.

On the 5th I took the kids on a hike to Stewart Falls all by myself. It was another failed park day activity. I would have taken the kids somewhere else since it was just us, but they were adamant that they wanted to do the "big long hike." I hadn't been there in almost 20 years, so I didn't remember just how big and long it was. It would have been nice to have other adults with me, but we powered through and somehow both made it there and back and had fun. It was really hot, and then it rained the last 30 minutes or so on our way back. It didn't get us too wet, but it did make the trail muddy and slippery.

Gray was a bit of a whiner when we first started.

First snack break. Jude is in a backpack on my back.

Kate was a little timid when we first started out, but then she decided it was fun and ran ahead, keeping us all apprised of what was coming up. She would sing and jog back and forth and tell me how beautiful everything was.

And it certainly was beautiful. I had forgotten what a pretty hike it is.

Kate and Colin at the Log That Looks Like Pants. Gray was too ornery at this point to be in the picture.

We made it! I was very tired. That last bit to the falls is tough when you have a baby on your back and a toddler in your arms! So this is the best picture I could get of the three of them.

Beautiful Stewart Falls.

Nice red face. This is my attempt at a family picture. Ha.

I asked someone to take this for me when we got back to the car. I said, "Pretend like you had fun!" I forgot that Jude wouldn't be visible.

These last few got out of order. Colin eating raisins on the way back.

Gray insisted on getting a picture with the Log That Looks Like Pants since he missed it the first time.

My yellow desk with fun knobs! I'm very excited about this. It was just a crappy old wooden desk, and I painted it, sealed it, and added some new hardware. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. Now to find the time to sew on it!

Some after shots of our painting endeavors. Notice the baseboard and the trim around the laundry room door? Yeah, that hasn't been there for seven years.

Jude likes to stand. He can do it without pulling himself up on anything too. It's amusing to watch him stand up and play with his toys. He still won't take a step though.

I'm glad someone loves beans! We have a truckload of them in our garden.

Kate's back there somewhere. This is the only picture I took. Once again, all I really have is video. But Kate actually did the cheer and the dance this year. And she only went to the last of the three days of cheer camp because I forgot about the other two days.

We celebrated Gray's birthday on the 9th because I won this cool House Party thing for Dippin' Dots Dot Monster Munch ice cream.

I made monster cupcakes to go with the monster ice cream. Kate and Gray put on the eyes. My frosting came out a little soft, but they still turned out cute.

The house party came with party hats, cups, balloons, color change spoons, a poster, funny word signs, and 16 cups of crazy flavored ice cream. We had a good time.

My niece Maggie. She was holding a word bubble sign that said, "I'm a party pooper," but I didn't get a picture of that.

Gray opening his presents. He was thrilled with everything, the way only a three-year-old is.

This is how he does three. Cracks me up.

Eating his candleless cupcake. I dropped the ball here. I thought I had a number 3 candle left over from the other kids, but I guess it got broken or something because it's gone. Good thing Gray didn't care at all.

Classic Nate.

Last Sunday Nate made brownies for himself after the kids went to bed. He baked them downstairs, and, unbeknownst to me, he left them downstairs. I discovered this when I went downstairs mid-morning on Monday. I didn't get too mad at the kids. I just explained to them that they ate all the treats so there wouldn't be anything for FHE or the next few days.

When the kids were down for quiet time I went back downstairs to snag the little bit of brownie that was left for my own treat. But I discovered this. I sent this picture to Nate with the caption, "Your kids suck." I didn't get any.

We waited for an hour to see the doctor last Tuesday for Jude's bum. (He's had terrible diaper rash for a long time, and on top of that he kept scratching himself until his poor bum would just bleed over and over again.) I kept the kids busy playing Simon Says and taking silly pictures.

Gray's actual birthday was the 13th. We went out to In'N'Out and Krispy Kreme with my mom. Gray was delighted with his hamburgerstyle and birthday doughnuts. We love birthday doughnuts.

When we got home I finished my project for the boys' room. I bought a bunch of junky frames at DI for a buck each, spray painted them all white, and filled them with the prints I made. They look really cute. I might replace the song lyrics with a superhero print from my artist friend Jen, but we'll see how it goes.

The kids played restaurant for the rest of the afternoon. The loved the hats and stickers from In'N'Out and Krispy Kreme.

Since Nate had a soccer game and wouldn't be home for dinner, the rest of us had waffles and ice cream with homemade apricot and strawberry syrups, per Gray's request. I also let them stay up until Nate came home watching a show. And Hannah came over and gave Gray presents from her—more Legos and some superhero pillow puppets. They were all pretty spoiled, but I think Gray enjoyed his special day.

The day after Gray's birthday (which is the same day as my nephew Donovan's) is our anniversary. Nate and I have been married 10 years already! What?! To celebrate we took the kids to the new Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. It is such a cute place, but it was SO CROWDED! The kids had a good time, but Nate and I—not so much. There were just too many other kids. I had wanted to get a year pass, but after going I changed my mind. I have no doubt the kids would have loved it, but I just don't think I could deal with it being so crowded all the time (and from what I have heard, it is always that crowded). I have more pictures on my other camera, and maybe I'll find them and upload them later. I wish I could have followed the kids and seen more, but I had to feed Jude and then I held him while he napped for the last hour and a half of our visit.

Jude having fun inside the baby section of Kidopolis.

These bunnies said the color or the name of the vegetable as you put in in their mouths.

Inside the Zion's Bank vault.

Story time about trains. The boys colored train maps and ate Thomas the Train fruit snacks.

A little rainforest/amazon market/store. It was cute and the kids loved it. Gray had fun gathering all the produce and then putting it back where it belonged.

Colin played cashier.

Gray was tired when we came home. He fell asleep in the car. I carried him in and tried to stand him up. He slumped on the floor, and when I came back from the bathroom he was fast asleep. But naturally, when I tried to lay him down on my bed he woke up crying. Kids.

Kenny and Laura stopped by a Wells Fargo where some RSL players were hanging out (or something like that). They asked Ned Grabavoy for an autograph on our behalf for our anniversary. Apparently, he wrote out my name, but forgot to write Nate's. Kenny and Laura pointed that out, and he said, "Meh," and just kept going. So more present for me, I guess? I'll take it!

Kenny and Laura also brought me a giant bowl full of peppers and tomatoes and cucumbers. I've been trying to redistribute them, as there's no way I can use all those peppers myself.