Time Flies...

...or else I'm just really lazy. Maybe a little of both. So here's a little catch up:

We did some minor celebrating on the fourth of July with a parade and some fire works- in our backyard that is. The other real fire works are at ten at night. That's late o clock around here.
After some begging and me saying "Maybe tomorrow" a lot I finally packed up the kids and went off to the Zoo! We had a great time, just don't mention the train around the kids. There's a train at the Zoo that we were going to ride at the end. The kids happily agreed to the plan and Taj took to the map and found our route to see all the animals and get back to the train. As we rounded the elephant cage near the end a little drizzle came down. It felt really nice, but meant that they wouldn't be running the train until the tracks dried. The kids took it well, but now we have to go back to the Zoo to ride the train. The thought exhausts me. Stupid drizzle.

My Sunshine Benches!

I found these benches at an antique store I had no interest in ever visiting. I pass the place every time I go to Costco. It's a huge old barn with tons of antique junk. Sorry my antique rummaging friends, but it's truly full of junk. The place gives me the creeps. I passed by and saw these out front and pined for them. I told Micah about them and I think he could see in my eyes that I really loved the Sunshine benches. He sweetly took me there and let me haggle for them, then kindly restored them for me. He had some help along the way. Being Sunshine benches we had to paint them yellow. The cushions are over achievers, but we love them and think they work well together. My talented husband is looking for more projects cuz apparently I'm not keeping him busy enough :). Check out his blog http://thecustomartproject.blogspot.com and if you have any project ideas contact him. He loves creating and is very good at it. I hate to see such talent go to waste so use him.

Taj and Eden - isms

We've created some rascals. Real characters lately.
"Mom, you say: Where did this blue rock come from?" While he's telling me this he's curled up under a blue towel. Once I say the line he stands up and sings, "Transformer. More than meets the eye." Imagine this awesome game ALL DAY LONG. Huh, boy. :)
While driving home from Nana's house Taj says to Eden, "You're so cute. I just want to hug you." We stopped the car and let him. Sweetnesses.














After telling Eden that it was time for dinner, not treats and her getting mad Taj softly tells her that we have to eat a good dinner before we get a treat. She says, "Oh. Yeah." as if that was obvious and she was never mad. Thanks to the best big brother ever.
Going up to Taj's room to tell him that quiet time was over and finding him in a green hooded towel, old ski goggles and a fireman hat in a power stance of course.

For some classic Eden I'll start with: Popsickles Time! She titles every activity by following it with "Time". Trampoline Tiime! Slippers Time! Pool Time! Books Time!It's all so special when she sings it so sweetly like that.



















Ammon. He's our six year old neighbor. She says his name ALL DAY LONG. It's been a good three weeks or so. I personally don't get it. He's a cute little hawaiian boy, and he is very protective of her, but this isn't supposed to happen so young is it? I got really scared when she said, "Ammon. Temple." WHAT? Then I remembered his mom's name is Temple. I hope that's her connection. Here we go.



















She loves to sing "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" but only the beam part. She never misses a single one. She also loves "the Money on the bus goes Clink, Clink, Clink." Just that part. The other parts can't be tolerated. Such a funny girl.
She helps with every prayer. She'll repeat all the important parts like, "Food." "Bodies." "Happy." "Jesus." and throws her arms up to say "Amen." Prayers are very exciting.

Hot Rods and Hot Deals

I would never claim to be crafty. I would, however, claim to be cheap, and this was a fun cheap craft I did with the kids this morning. I found the little wooden car and bus at Walmart for $.88 cents. The kids picked which one they wanted and we spent about an hour painting them just right. This looks like the beginning of a new car/bus collection.

Come and Get It!

PLEASE! We have an abundance of cherries growing on our tree out front. There are so many that we can't get them and eat them or give them away fast enough. Come. Bring your ladder and best climber and take them away. We know they're free but still hate to see them go to waste.

Micah's Family

Micah's brothers and sister were all in town last weekend so we decided to use a nearby park for its real intended purpose...Family Picture Photo Op. We did everything we could to not end up on awkwardfamilyphotos.com but you can be the judge: The blue and white hat belonged to Micah's younger brother that passed away 11 years ago this August. His family tries to have it in all their family pictures as a tribute. I need to dig up some old pictures that show how much Taj looks like his late uncle Jacob in that hat.
Part of the reason for the get-together was to celebrate some birthdays. Ben and Gabe are 14 years and a day apart...you know how big families go.
My father-in-law Steve temporarily lost his senses and offered to take us all out to eat for the birthday boys. We went to Salt Lake to The Melting Pot; a tabletop fondue place. The food was awesome and I won't even go into the detail about how much I dream about the Turtle Chocolate dessert fondue. Taj and Eden were little angels during the three hours we were there. Little angels that can't sit still and want to stick their fingers in the pots. They had fun once the chocolate covered marshmallows arrived.

Something about "the Big City" still makes us feel like country bumpkins. What's this? A parking meter?
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Since the Smiths are all boys and one girl, anytime they get together a basketball game ensues. This time they got some cousins and neighbors involved:

Family Photo's

As family photo's go, we don't get many that we like. We are an un-photogenic family. Seriously. Even the kids take some winners. I usually erase them as soon as they are taken- it's an instinct I've developed after years of bad pictures. These were just a few of the first ones I found- I don't want to nauseate anyone :).

Micah just showed me an AWESOME site that must be seen: http://awkwardfamilyphoto.com/ It's my new favorite. Share it with people you love.

re-discovery

With all the books we read each day I am amazed it took this long to re-discover Leo Lionni. The man was a children's book author-genius and is one of my all time favorites. If you haven't read his stuff or it's just been a while it's time to get to it. He's a pleasure to look at and read over and over again. "But don't take my word for it!"

Summer Fun

Last Saturday was the annual Fireman Breakfast. It was our first time, but definitely won't be the last time. Eden mentions it several times a day now and loves to wear her fireman hat-I need a picture of that. I wonder if she'll do that until next year. It was a fundraiser where the firemen cook a great breakfast and we buy it, eat it, then play around on the trucks. How rad is that old fire truck? Taj was loving the bell.

We love Farm Country (Thanksgiving Point). Eden had her first horse back ride and kept saying "Again" afterwords and Taj picked the biggest horse he could find. We laughed at the baby cow that could lick his own nostrils. It was good times.

We've been out to the parks and thrown hundreds of rocks into streams all over town. This is such a beautiful time of year, and such a beautiful age for the kids. I'm loving watching their excitement over the world. It's something new everyday. Summer is fun!