Day 31 - Roses in Bloom

My roses are now blooming. They look so pretty! Except we never got around to pruning them last fall or this spring, and now they are monstrously huge, but now we have to wait till the first round of blossoms are done and then we can trim them back.

This particular rose (below) is a rose from my Grandma Tolman's yard. When she passed away 8 years ago we were able to take one rose bush from her garden. We planted it here and it seemed to be dead for a whole year. Then a year later, it started growing again and now is has pretty purplish/pink blossoms. I think it is my favorite because it reminds me of my Grandma.



My second favorite is this pink and white one. It always has the most prolific blossoms and they smell really good too. I have some other ones that are pretty but you can hardly smell the rose scent. I like my roses to smell like roses!


So the Picture a Day in May is now over. I am out of ideas anyway! It was fun to do, and it helped me to be a little more creative with my photos. I also take my camera with me everywhere now, just so I don't miss a good photo opportunity.

Day 30 - Cheerio Dump

I have to include the whole series of photos so you can appreciate Jorgen's changing face. It was so funny. Well, at the time I was actually pretty mad at him for dumping an entire box of Honey Nut Cheerios on the floor, but I thought it would make a fun picture. Sort of to catch Mr. Trouble in the act, for documentation.

He knew he was in trouble:

He didn't like them sticking to his feet.

Mmm, tasty!

I'm sorry that a lot of my posts lately have been about Jorgen. I know I need to balance it more with my other kids. It seems Jorgen is just always nearby and underfoot and he is so darn cute too. I will try to do better!

Day 29 - Playdough

They all look so serious in this picture.

Day 28 - Our Basement

Today and yesterday I held some movie parties for my piano students. They have to earn points by practicing all year, and the students with enough points get to come watch a movie in our theater at the end of the school year. It has nothing to do with piano, but it motivates most of them to keep practicing. I meant to get a picture of the party in progress, but it didn't happen, so this is just the room without any people in it, sorry!




On the other side is our playroom for the kids and their toys. It is usually much messier than this.

Day 27 - Our House

I am running out of ideas, so I thought I'd get a picture of our house. It's small and cozy, but just right for us for now. We have lived here for 10 years, I can't believe it has been so long! When we moved in, behind us were fields of sheep and pheasants and alfalfa. Now almost our entire ward has been built in those fields. Crazy.





While I was outside with Jorgen, he noticed a cat that was roaming around in front of our house and followed it to our next door neighbors' house. Can you see the cat? I don't think the cat was too happy about being followed by a toddler. It eventually hid behind some thicker bushes.




Then the sprinklers turned on and Jorgen found some mud puddles to splash in. Fun times!

Day 26 - Meet Trouble

Today was quite a day. I seem to be saying that every day lately. Jorgen is getting to be quite the handful lately. A few words I would use to describe him are: trouble, destructor, bully, tease, impish, clever, mischievous, mess maker, bug eater, bug squisher, mr. long arms, homework ripper, library book destroyer, tower collapser, button pusher, the list goes on and on. You can just see that gleam in his big blue eyes, planning what mayhem he is going to cause after lunch. Today he figured out how to disable the computer mouse. I have no idea how he did it, and it took Dan quite some time to fix it.

All that being said, he does give very good hugs, and still snuggles when he gets tired or is scared. He is a sweet little boy when he wants to be, but most of the time he is just a ball of energy. We have a book called "Baby Taz" and it fits him perfectly.

I don't know how I ended up with such an energetic child, I was not like this and Dan says he wasn't, but who knows! Jorgen is so different from my other two, so this is all new for me. But I still love him to pieces no matter how many messes he can make in a day (or an hour!)

Edited: I forgot to add a few of our most recent frustrations with this cute kid. He has been on a hitting, biting, head-butting, pushing, streak lately. He hits my other kids, he hits mom or dad, he hits the kids in nursery (at least they hit back, maybe he'll get a dose of his own medicine). He thinks it's funny. He has bitten Andrew so hard it drew blood. He likes to wrestle someone to the floor and then squash, bounce, hit, kick. I don't know how to get him to stop!

He is just now finishing his second attempt at breakfast (it's almost 10 am) because he tried to throw his cereal bowl on the floor, so I took it away. He managed to get his banana bread all over the floor before I could catch it. He also likes to throw his sippy cup on the floor and see if it will spill all over. (They are not as spill-proof as you would think, at least not when Jorgen is around). He likes to unroll the entire roll of toilet paper, throw objects in the toilet (Dan's blackberry suffered this fate a few weeks ago), pull out an entire box of kleenex, throw sand in his hair, and in other kids' hair.

He is not even close to being 2 yet, so I have a feeling we are in for a long haul. He sure does keep me on my toes.

Day 25 - Day at the pool

Since today was a holiday, we decided to head to the pool to have some fun. Jorgen LOVED it. He couldn't get enough. Andrew froze the whole time, but had a good time too. Bethany got to show off her new swimming skills to Dan. I couldn't really get a good picture because Jorgen just wanted to go play. Afterwards, we came home and had ice cream cones, and later a BBQ. It was a lot of fun!

Day 24 - Banana Bread

Today we made banana bread. It smells heavenly, and tastes even better! Mmmmm.

Day 23 - Exploring at Grandma's

We went to my parents' house today to help install their air conditioner and some other odd jobs. We live the closest, so we often get to go help with things. The kids had fun exploring the yard. I took a bunch of good photos, but here are a couple of my favorites.

Day 22 - Yard Work

Dan spent most of today working in the yard. Jorgen was trying to help move bark to the flower beds.

Day 21 - Andrew's Preschool Program

Thursday was Andrew's preschool program. He seemed to be feeling a little bit better, so off we went. It was very cute and fun to see. We LOVE this preschool and will miss it for a few years. Bethany was a student there for 2 years, then Andrew for 2 years. Jorgen won't be old enough for 2 more years. It will be nice not to have to pay for it, though!

Jorgen loves gadgets of all kinds, including video cameras:

Andrew is in the middle row, fifth kid in, brown and green striped shirt.

Andrew's group did a cute reading of "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?" Andrew got to be the zebra and he said "I hear a boa constrictor hissing in my ear."

Jorgen was trying to be like the big kids. Andrew was still pretty tired all day, but he still sang all the songs.

Andrew with Mrs. Call. She is an awesome teacher and we will miss her! It is both fun and sad to see your kids grow up!

When we got home, Andrew's fever was back! Aagh! I thought he was getting better, but he's been tired and feverish today as well. I hope he feels better soon.

Camera Battery is Dead

I was going to put a new post on, but my camera battery is dead. So it is being charged right now. I don't know how long it will take. I have some cute photos from Andrew's program - check back later!

Day 20 - Not feeling so well!

So last night at about 3 am Andrew woke up crying that his head hurt. I went in to help and he was burning hot. I gave him some motrin and he went back to sleep pretty quickly. He seemed okay but tired this morning, but he didn't eat anything for breakfast except a glass of milk. It was his last day of preschool and they were having a sort of mini-field day that he didn't want to miss. I debated letting him go, but in the end let him. I think he would have been really disappointed to miss the last day.

So after preschool I was fixing lunch and he says his head is hurting again and his tummy too. The fever was back too. I told him to go rest on the couch while I finished lunch so he did. The next time I looked he was fast asleep. He only slept till Jorgen woke him up about 30 minutes later. He didn't eat lunch or dinner, but at least he will drink when I tell him to. He went to bed early. Hopefully a good night's rest will help, because tomorrow is his preschool program at the library.

Day 19 - Practice Time

Before Bethany left for school this morning, she practiced a song she wants to play for her music class talent day at school. I thought the backpack was a nice touch.

Day 18 - Thank You Cards

Bethany goes back on track tomorrow, and it is Teacher Appreciation Week, so we stopped at Walmart to pick up a thank you card. She looked at the cards for over 20 minutes and couldn't find anything she liked. Jorgen, however, loved the musical Peanuts card and wouldn't let me put it back. Can you see him listening? It was really cute, he danced/bounced to the music and would open and shut it over and over.


I distracted him with a new pair of sunglasses that I was planning on buying, and then he let me put the card back. Sorry, I'm not paying $5 bucks for a thank you card! Bethany still couldn't decide, so instead we bought some scrapbook paper and stickers so she could make her own.

So, this afternoon, Bethany made her card. Andrew, of course, didn't want to be left out so he made one too. I cut out the basic card piece, but they did all the rest, including choosing and cutting the smaller scraps of paper. Here are the end results:

Day 17 - Sunday games

Bethany was playing Jenga after church this afternoon:

Playing at the Park

After my piano recital yesterday, I had to vacuum up the crumbs from the refreshments, so Dan took the kids over to the park nearby and they had fun playing. Here are some fun photos:





Even though I let my students dress casual for this recital, Bethany still wanted to wear a skirt, but that didn't seem to get in the way at the park! I think a little boy I know got a smudge on my camera lens, thus the blurs.

Day 16 - Spring Recital

Yesterday was my last recital of the school year. We did a duet/concerto recital. The kids all played really well and I hope they had a good time working with other students.

Here is Bethany playing "Skip to My Lou" with her partner:



And me playing "Valse Caprice" with a student:


I forgot to get a group picture this time, oh well! Just one more week of lessons and then I am taking 2 months off for the summer. Yay!

Day 15 - Father and Sons Campout

This year for Father and Sons, Dan took Andrew up to Grandpa Nay's ward instead of our stake camp. It just happened to be the same weekend. They camped in a field up in Mantua.

Andrew helping set up the tent:

Eating dinner (hot dogs):

Fire building contest:

Bugs (Ick!)

Dan and Andrew did a skit.

It was so cold overnight that there was frost on the chairs in the morning. Dan said that Andrew fell out of his sleeping bag three times, and had a hard time staying warm. He is so skinny, and he is always cold here in our house, even when it isn't really cold. Poor guy.

Eating breakfast in the sun to warm up. They made a dutch oven breakfast casserole with hashbrowns, eggs, peppers, onions, bacon, etc. Sounds super yummy to me, but Andrew wouldn't eat it. Andrew is SOOOO picky with food. Dan was smart and took some cold cereal and that is what Andrew ate for breakfast. Frosted Mini-Wheats without milk (because it washes off the frosting!)

They stopped for an icecream cone on the way home.
Andrew said his favorite things at the campout were:
roasting marshmallows
tug of war
using the ditch behind his tent for a potty (no bathroom facilities)

I know this was more than one day, but I do have pictures for the 16th that I will post tomorrow. Right now I am exhausted and going to bed.