Busy

Where have I been for the past week and why haven't I posted?

I've been a little busy planning this:

A few weeks ago I did something really crazy and decided to step into the position as the Social Committee chair for our neighborhood's HOA. Thank heavens there was another lady who was willing to co-chair with me, so I haven't been doing this all on my own. She's fabulous and we work really well together.

Our first event was this past Sunday (yeah, not my favorite, but it was already on the calendar. Hopefully it will be our last Sunday event). I was thrilled with how it all turned out. In past events when I was serving on the committee, we've only had turnouts of about 50 people or so. I always felt like we could do much better (our community has over 1,000 homes), so our goal with this event was to have a larger number of people in attendance. We did it! We had well over 200 people show up. It was a blast. We had bounce houses, hot dogs, snow cones, cotton candy, a bike parade- the works! We put a lot of effort into it and I felt like it really paid off.

After being at the pool all day setting up and helping out, making a few trips to the grocery store for extra ice, then slipping off to sacrament meeting, then returning to the pool to see if the vendor had arrived to collect his stuff (which he hadn't), then waiting 45 minutes for him to finally show up, I went home and crashed. I felt like I had been hit by a bus.

And now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go get ads in the papers for our upcoming community wide garage sale, get signs made, have a little chat with our vendor who chewed out my co-chair for a mistakes HE made, collect bids from other vendors to replace said Mr. Jerk-face Vendor for next year's events, start planning our Halloween hayride, re-work next year's schedule and budget and submit it for approval, go over minutes from our committee meeting on Wednesday, and submit all my receipts for reimbursements- good thing I can do most of this while sitting in a chair!

Oh what have I gotten myself into???

Ouch. I can feel a stress induced braxton hicks contraction coming on.

And yes, John and Tyler were GREAT helpers. I loved how inventive they were in delivering several supplies from our house to the pool- they just loaded up the bike trailer. I can't wait until next year when we can enter the bike parade/contest with the tandem, Tyler's tag-along, and the baby trailer all decked out and hooked together. Here are a few more pics of my favorite (and most helpful) people!

Stop...hammer time

About a year ago John and Tyler attended their first Lowe's Build and Grow workshop. It was only mildly disastrous. At that time Tyler was a bit too young and could hardly concentrate on the task at hand. He was good for maybe one or two minutes, all the while hammering John's poor fingers. So we thought we'd wait a while and give it a try again.

Success!!!

I was so thrilled with his ability to concentrate, follow instructions, and stay on task. And boy was he ever thrilled with himself and his handiwork. He loves his pirate ship- it had it's maiden voyage in the bath tub that very night. And since John and Tyler head to either Lowe's or Home Depot almost every Saturday, I'm sure this will become a part of the routine.

Who looks more proud- John or Tyler?

leg room

Dear Baby Boy,


It has been such a delight providing you room and board for the past several months. However, I am unable to accommodate your request for a little more leg room. Furthermore, I would very much appreciate it if you would not insist upon pushing your tiny, yet very strong legs against my already sore ribs. I fear that when you get a foothold on either side of my rib cage that you just might split my ribs in half, sending them flying in opposite directions.


I would appreciate your cooperation in this matter and look forward with much anticipation to meeting you soon.


Sincerely,


Mommy


PS. could we also look into another option for a pillow besides my bladder?

Check out his tiny, little legs sticking straight out. Is there really enough room for that?

For reals?!?

Well, you know what we'll be watching next July.

(check it out here or here)

A Few Firsts

I was thrilled several months ago when one of my friends in the ward decided to teach preschool in her home. She only lives a few streets over, so it's nice and close, but more importantly, I know Tyler will have a great time and he's only gone for three hours twice a week. All of the other programs in the area only offer 5 hours twice a week. I'm just not okay with him being gone for that long at this age.

So on Monday night for Family Home Evening, we decided to establish traditions and patterns of worship in our home by starting the school year with a father's blessing. John knew the blessing would be short, sweet, and simple and he did a great job at that. It was simple enough that Tyler could understand most of it. I say that because he blessed Tyler with a sharp mind as he learned new things. After the blessing, I asked Tyler what he remembered from the prayer. He said, "Daddy blessed me to be a shark boy!" Hmmmm...sharp mind/ shark boy. Somehow that got lost in translation, but you can imagine how hard we both laughed at this little misunderstanding. Maybe we jumped the gun on this family tradition, but oh well!

So Tuesday was his first day. I was a little sad when I dropped him off, but then I got SOOO much done (sewed two curtain panels for the baby's room), that I got over it pretty quick. When I picked him up, I was so impressed with everything that he could tell me that they did and learned.

It's an exciting time for him and I have to keep reminding myself of that whenever I get bummed that he's taking his first steps away from his mommy.

Then Wednesday night, John decided it was time to try out the little "tag along" bike he bought for Tyler almost a year ago. He's been waiting a long time for Tyler to grow into this thing, and he's made a few plans to do some events (short ones) with Tyler "tagging along" next spring, so I guess it was time to start the training.

I was sooooo nervous watching them pedal away. He's so high off the ground and really has to hold on tight for balance, but when they returned from their bike ride, Tyler was all smiles and spoke very enthusiastically about the ride. He seemed to really like it and has asked to ride again soon. So I call it a success- no bumps, bruises, or broken bones (don't you love this picture of his bright pink, sweaty face? And of course, he's holding the water bottle that he had to have filled up just like daddy's for the ride).

Then again today, Tyler experienced another first- his first visit to the dentist. He did great, and once again, was all smiles when it was over.

I'm so proud of Tyler and all of his many firsts. He's growing up quickly and it really does tear me apart knowing that each new first, as exciting as it may be, is taking him one step closer to independence- or one step closer to not needing his mommy anymore. I know, I'm sappy, but I can't help it! He is such a source of joy and happiness in my life. I really do love being with him. I love watching him learn, I love hearing what he has to talk about, I love observing him trying new things. He makes me laugh all the time and he's so incredibly sweet. I don't think there is a day that goes by when I don't think of how blessed I am to have such a darling, sweet boy.

Labor Day

Labor Day was Monday, but thank goodness, nobody here was in labor.

We spent the morning at the Putt Putt Golf. Tyler loved riding in the race cars and John even let him take the wheel. Every time they'd pass by, I'd hear Tyler giggling after he'd run the car into the side bumpers.