Cox Farms 2009

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

This post would have been FANTASTIC with pictures! Sadly, none of the events are ones in which my first thought was to grab the camera. My second or third thought, yes. But not first, and then it was too late.

Thursday

Ants. Again. Normally this is a Springtime problem for us. But Thursday morning I found little tiny (I want to say sugar) ants were congregating just inside the sliding glass door. The real mystery is why they were there - I couldn't see any food near them. Luckily, I keep a large stock of Terro ant traps under the kitchen sink. Twenty-four hours later, they were dead or gone.

Irene 1, Bugs 0.

Friday

Apples. We drove up to the orchard to pick apples. This has become a yearly tradition. Not that the kids are tall enough to pick apples, but they play in and around the trees and find bugs while I get the apples. Last year, we got up to the orchard too late in the year and had to pick apples out of bins. Not nearly as exciting. So, on a cool and cloudy Friday September morning, we drove up to meet some friends at the orchard. It was a spectacular failure. There were tiny bugs and gnats everywhere. They were in our eyes, noses and mouths constantly. Michael was crying and trying to keep them away with his "umblella" and poor Ben moaned as he didn't have even the ability to bat them away from his face. Picking apples out of the bin started looking better and better.

Irene 1, Bugs 1

Saturday

Cox Farms. Bright and early we arrived at Cox Farms 1 minute before they opened the park. After sliding down slides and visiting the goats, we sat down to eat lunch at the picnic tables. In a money saving move, we brought our open sandwich pieces and put them together there. Did you know that wasps are attracted to lettuce? After shooing a yellow jacket away from the salad bag, it promptly took up residence in my ham and cheese sandwich. You can probably see where this is headed. I took a very painful bite and then spit out the offending bug. It was dead, and I was in a great deal of pain. I think this one is a draw.

Irene 2, Bugs 2

Michael's First Day of Preschool

The time was drawing nearer and nearer. Preschool was about to start. He may not be fully potty trained, but by golly, he was not going to be shaggy!
So, last night Daddy took the clippers to Michael's head and this is the sweet boy that emerged:

I have been looking forward to this day since Ben was born. I knew even then that my sanity might be best served by the spacing of our children: Josh would be in kindergarten this year and Michael would start preschool. Having a child's sense of time, I think that Michael's excitement has been more nebulous. But, here we are and he was pretty excited this morning!

Check out the size of that backpack!

Drop-off was a little difficult. Whereas Josh walked away with his teacher and didn't look back, my attached little boy wanted me to walk him down to the classroom. Thankfully a friend of mine offered to watch Ben (you're awesome, Kimber) as I wasn't really prepared to walk us all through the school.

Once in the classroom, he went straight for the Rescue Heroes and I slipped out quietly. So, either everything went fine or the teacher lost our new phone number. Either way, I have had a relaxing morning cuddling with Ben and reading a book. Shocking, I know.

Sleepytime

Jason can fall to sleep in under a minute flat and in any position. In fact, if I can get Ben to sleep and hand him over to Jason, it is like an instant sedative. If only the reverse were true!

Michael will sometimes fall asleep in uncomfortable positions these days. Our schedule kind of shoved out his afternoon nap. Most days that works just fine for us, but some days he passes out from exhaustion. Swim classes help foster exhaustion. I love swim classes.
I love the sweet faces of my boys when they sleep. Of course, it helps that when they are asleep they can't harrass each other or whine at me. But, it also means they are snuggled up nice and cute. These boys of mine don't slow down very often, so I treasure these moments.

Weight Watchers update #1

So, I am loving the world of WW. I have lost 10 pounds and still going strong. I even had a lovely friend introduce me to some of her WW tricks and now I am a popcorn and FiberOne bar junkie.

But, I do have to say that I am little frustrated by some of the places that I seem to be losing weight. For one, my rings are looser. And for two, Jason tells me he can tell by looking at my face that I am losing weight.

Great.

But, really, who has weight loss goals that involve smaller fingers and a slightly thinner face when one has thunder thighs and a baby belly? Seriously! I would gladly live with chunky fingers if I could get rid of my baby weight (can I still call it that if I haven't lost some of this weight since Josh?) in places that would move me down a pant size or two.

I have high hopes for the next 10 pounds. Wish me luck. But, if my toes start getting thinner, I might lose my motivation.

Updates

Josh:

• Josh LOVES school.
• Josh has a girlfriend at school. Her name is Jordan. And how did he decide that she is his girlfriend? She gives him lots of hugs. But, he always tells us the last part with a bit of exasperation. We'll have to see how this goes. He is definitely his daddy's son, because I didn't have any romantic relationships in kindergarten. In any case, Ella has a competitor!
• Josh eats peas. No, really. That puts the grand total number of vegetables that he will knowingly eat at two. Which might not sound like a lot, but is a 200% increase over this time last year.

Michael

• Michael helps me understand why parents would send their kids to boarding school. Just kidding. Sorta. Three was a bad year with Josh, too.
• A ball of poo the size of a softball rolled out of Michael's underwear last week. Just in case you were wondering how potty training was going.
• Michael is turning into quite the big helper while Josh is at school. Unfortunately for him, he still has several months to go before Ben will be a fun playmate.

Ben

• When Ben sleeps well, he sleeps GREAT. But, when Ben sleeps poorly, he sleeps HORRIBLY.
• Ben in a equal opportunity finger sucker. He will suck on any of his fingers...and on any of yours if given the chance.
• If Ben had been my first child, I would have felt betrayed by the other kids crazy babyhoods. But since he is my last, I feel blessed to have a decently calm child.

Josh's Talk

Only a month late, but I really wanted to post the talk that Josh wrote and read by himself (two exceptions I will get to in a minute) on August 2nd. We were/are so proud of our big boy!

On the morning of August 2nd, Jason and Josh sat in front of the computer and Josh dictated this talk to Jason:

I love going to the temple.

I love to feel the Spirit at the temple.

My mommy and daddy were married in the temple.

I love my mommy and daddy.

I love to be obedient.

I love to obey God.

I love the temple.

I want to get married in the temple. (Jason had to do some editing here because what Josh really said was, "I want to get married in the temple to Ella.)

The temple is God’s house.

I love God.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

He did a fantastic job reading it as well. I did have to help him with the word "feel," which was funny because he read the word "obedient" just fine.