Bestest Friends

This was one of those good moments. Ruby is starting to actually care when toys get ripped out of her hands so we are enjoying the peaceful happy moments while they last! Oliver loves to tease his sister - but at least he won't let anyone else tease her. The other day at the splash park he spent the majority of the time guarding the puddle that Ruby was playing in so that no one else touched his sister's water.

Kapachuch no more. . . and other random thoughts

I decided to post something today, mostly because I needed a break from playing "Parade" (Oliver's new favorite game in which Ruby and I have to sit on the ground and cheer at him as he crawls by and throws pretend candy to us. We then have to gather the candy, remove the wrapper- yes he checks- and eat it).

At the moment I am a bit backlogged on my blogging. My problem is that I have videos that need to upload but I can't get them on here. Nor can I figure out how to take still shots from the film, so this is a picture-less post that will seem out of place once I get my technological troubles resolved. Oh well, there were some things I wanted to write down and if I waited for all that I would have forgotten to ever do to. So, in no specific order, here we go:

1. I noticed the other day that Oliver no longer calls ketchup "kapachuch" it made me really sad. He seems to speak in paragraphs these days, it is fun but sometimes I kind of miss the mixed-up toddler talk.

2. Ruby hit a milestone. Forget the crawling and the new teeth, this is even better . . . . her hair fits into a very teeny-tiny ponytail on the top of her head! So fun!

3. I just want to say that I am grateful for our country. I promised myself when I left Venezuela that I would be forever thankful for the freedoms and luxuries we enjoy here. I even swore I would be happy to pay my taxes because of all the things we get from it. I just want you to know that I still feel the same way. God Bless America!

4. Has anybody else realized that the summer is almost half over, where did it go?

5. It is Tour time at our house. We still haven't purchased a TV since moving to our new place, but we subscribed to Versus online and have not missed a pedal stroke. Go Lance!

6. (Just in case you read my previous post) I found a garbage truck "with hands" (i.e. one that picks up the garbage and dumps it) and Ollie has not been apart from it in three days. I swore I would never use threats and bribery as a parent, but that went out the window a long time ago along with a whole lot of other parenting morals and standards. Some days it is just about survival and if we are all still standing and breathing at the end of the day than it was obviously a successful day and one to be proud of! And if you are reading this and don't agree, have a two-year-old and then we will talk.

The Potty Train...

I had pretty much psyched myself out about potty training. Everything I read and everything I heard was about how hard it is, especially for boys. So I would dive in with the greatest intentions and then give up by noon because I needed to go somewhere and didn't dare take Oliver anywhere without a diaper on. Last week however I finally broke down and left him in underwear for an entire day. We definitely had more failures than successes, but by the third day he was totally accident free!! We still have some issues, but it was definitely not the nightmare scenario I had pictured in my mind.

He has almost filled his potty chart with stickers and we promised him a "garbage truck with hands" (the toy of his choice) when it was done, the problem is I have no idea where to find such a toy. Target and Walmart don't have any, I am thinking that finding the darn garbage truck may be the hardest part of our potty training adventure.

Rockstars!!

Oliver has made a new friend down the street, Brayden. The two love to ride bikes, play trains and marbles and just be crazy together. On this particular day however they decided to sing. I should have taken a video instead; you can see from the picture that they are using wire wisks and microphones but you are missing out on a very spirited rendition of "The Wheels on the Bus." So funny!

Memorial Day

Sometimes gratitude for examples set and lessons learned takes a while to set in. This Memorial Day, just like every other Memorial Day that I can remember, we drove to Richfield to decorate graves. Growing up, while friends spent their Memorial Day weekend boating, camping or just kicking of their summer with a bang, we ALWAYS spent the weekend cleaning graves, putting up and taking down the flag and setting out flowers. Of course there was always a fun picnic or outing, but the focus was on honoring those who had passed on. I remember how appalled my grandma was with the people who set their flowers out early so they could take off for the weekend. I have no doubt that there was a time when I rolled my eyes at the number of graves we had to visit on Monday morning, or perhaps my annoyance was more with the rate at which we traveled from cemetery to cemetery (grandma wasn't the fastest driver). However ornery I used to be I would just like to say now that I am grateful to my Grandma June for teaching me the importance of remembering. You can't grow strong without deep roots and thanks to Grandma I know where mine are. Hers was one of the graves we decorated this year and I just hope she knows that her lessons are finally sinking in, I plan to deprive my children of Memorial Day get-aways as well!

Once all the graves were properly visited and decorated, we spent some time at Uncle Craig's farm where Oliver got to drive a tractor. Tractors are his latest obsession so he was absolutely in heaven. After that we visited some family whilst Sam, my brother Donald and his wife Caci attempted to ride their road bikes from Siguard to Fish Lake. It turned out to be an extremely steep four-hour ride into the wind. None of the riders were happy when we met them at the lake for a picnic (except for Caci on whom goo seemed to have a very optimistic affect.) The ride was all Sam's idea and I think he was permanently banned from planning any future family activities.

We were all tired and ready to start the drive home at this point, but Sam had promised Oliver that they would catch a fish at the "big pond" (we don't watch Dinosaur Train anymore, but some of the themes have yet to wear off.) So we sat on the bank and watched everyone reel in fish and wished that someone would just give us one. Fortunately Sam pulled through and caught one just in time for us to pack up and drive home.

So, it's been a while...

I've been meaning to post forever, really. Since we moved into our new place I thought it would be great to post some pictures of our home, but it is taking forever to come together just right. I don't want to admit how many chairs and tables I have returned, I can't make up my mind about where to hang things up on the walls, and the rug I ordered still hasn't come in yet. So, on this post I'm afraid that all you get is me and no pics. (I don't really have any pictures to share anyway, Sam got me a Flip (video camera) for mother's day and I've been playing around with that and totally ignoring my good old camera.) And of course I don't know how to post a video. I just wanted all my faithful readers (I know who you are because you have been sending me hate-posts for neglecting my blog for so long) to know that I am indeed still alive.

For the record, we are loving our new home, we are on a quiet street with lots of kids and Oliver has no shortage of friends to ride bikes and cause trouble with. Our house is beautiful - minus the lack of decor and furniture - and just the right size for us. We are beginning to acclimate to our new ward and Sam was even called into the boy scouts, he's thrilled :)

Aside from buying and returning furniture, practicing how to make fondant flowers for my sisters wedding cake next week and riding our bikes around the block again and again and again, here is a little list of what we have been up to:

1. Potty training. We are only on day two and have yet to have any success, but I am determined not to throw in the towel (or should I say underwear) just yet. Oliver is registered for preschool in the fall and can't go unless he is out of diapers so we are motivated!

2. Shots. Ruby was due for some shots last week. When I explained to Ollie that we would be taking Ruby to the doctor to get some shots he asked me how bad it would hurt her and if she would cry. When I told him that she probably would he insisted that he would hold her hand so that she would not be scared. Just as he promised, when it came time for her shots he pushed a stool over to the examination table and held on tight. I think he was a little traumatized watching the shots, but he never let go of Ruby's hand, it was just so sweet.

3. Friends. When we moved here I promised Oliver that we would get some new friends. He has been so excited and for the first few days every morning when he woke up he would ask me where his friends were. Well, it didn't take long for him to find them. Everyone is Ollie's friend. He loves to introduce himself to everyone. His intro usually goes something like this, "Hi my name is Oliver, I'm two. This is my mommy Janell and my sister Ruby, she's so cute." The other day we went to a store and he walked right up to the sales clerk, announced his name and told her he was looking for a friend (unfortunately they didn't sell those at that particular store).

4. Goldman. Sam is really enjoying his position with Goldman Sachs. He is already putting in a lot of long hours and we miss him, but are glad that he likes his job so much.

5. Bikes. Oliver is a biking fanatic. All he ever wants to do is ride outside with his "bike friends". I think that he would live on that thing if we let him (it does occasionally have to sleep in his room with him.)

6. Crawling. Nope, we are still not there yet, instead we seem to be stuck in the "I want to crawl so bad but can't figure out how to put one hand in front of the other so I will just squawk in frustration instead" stage. It is a joy.

I know that there are a million other things I need to write, but I can't remember them. I guess that is what happens when you procrastinate blogging for over a month. Don't worry more to come soon, with pics, I promise!

Oliver's Tail

So, the other day Oliver came to me and wanted to play catch. When I threw ball at him he made no attempt to catch it, rather, he explained to me that he wanted to hit it with his tail. (I think he saw a show with dinosaurs playing catch with their tails.) We had played that game before so instead of throwing the ball at his chest I threw it to his bottom. He then informed me that that was not his tail and that his tail was under his pants. Being the obliging mother that I am I helped him take his pants off. (Sam, who was in the room and had caught on a lot sooner than I had was smirking by this point). After throwing the ball at his now pant-less bottom he once again insisted that that was not his tail and that his tail was in his diaper. It was at this point that I caught on to exactly what a "tail was. Seeing as there were a number of people around and in an effort to avoid any indecent exposure I diverted his attention by offering to find him an even better tail. Hence, the above outfit. What I was not prepared for was just how much he would love it. He insisted on attempting to fly off of every piece of furniture in the house and flat out refused to remove the wings and tail for his nap or for a trip to the store (although I did manage to put his pants back on him for that outing!) A few days later we finally had to hide the wings and tail in order to get him to stop putting them back on.

Sunny Days

The weather has finally turned warm and we just can't enough of it!


We went to a Bees game this weekend with the SUU alumni association. Sam says it isn't really summer until you watch some baseball. (Personally I can think of a lot more entertaining ways to get into summer, but whatever). Alas, the game was cut short for us when Sam let out and over-enthusiastic cheer while holding Ruby on his lap, he completely freaked her out to the point that packing up and leaving was the only way to make her happy again. I guess she is a girl after my own heart!

Oliver thought it was great however. My dad has a lathe and recently made Oliver his own wooden baseball bat. I think my dad may regret it now that Oliver is constantly pleading him to "come pitch for me Grandpa." At the game he enjoyed picking out the pitcher and the hitter and yelling and clapping whenever anybody else did.

A Ruby Pile

One of Oliver's favorite games is to make a Ruby pile. Basically this consists of him laying on top of Ruby and then making Sam and I lay on top of him until we make one great big Peay family pile. Ruby is pretty accommodating seeing as she absolutely adores her brother and really has no choice in the matter.

Aside from making "Ruby Piles" Oliver's other latest craze is dinosaurs. Ollie gets to watch one TV show every morning while I take a shower and a few months ago he switched allegiance from Sesame Street to a new PBS show called Dinosaur Train. Our entire existence pretty much revolves around Dinosaur Train now. For example, he spends all day calling out, "tickets, tickets please" after you give him a ticket he punches it on his claw, a.k.a. his toe, and tells you "thank you very much!" When ever we drive under an underpass he call out "Time Tunnel." Obviously you would have to actually watch the show to comprehend all of this, but I would recommend just taking my word for it.

He is learning quite a bit from the show as well. The other day he was eating my mom's houseplant and when I asked him what he was doing he explained that he was a herbivore so he had to eat plants and leaves. One morning when I asked him if he had any ideas about what we should do that day he told me that we just needed a hypothosis. At the look of confusion on my face he said, "you know mom, a hypothesis, it's an idea you can test." He hypothesized that the wind was blowing in a particular direction and we took a flag outside to test his idea. Last week he informed me that he had brachiosaurus feces in his diaper. (Hopefully one day soon he will learn to get that brachiosaurus feces into the toilet instead of his diaper!)

I would prefer that he stuck to Sesame Street so that he could pick up on his numbers and letters instead, but I'm sure one day it will be important for him to understand the meaning of nocturnal as well!

Easter

This year we made a greater effort to teach Oliver the meaning of Easter. He picked up on the story amazingly well. His favorite part of course was the big rock that was rolled in front of Jesus' tomb. (No surprise there!) And now every time we drive past a church with a cross on it he reminds me that Jesus died on a cross and got owies in his hands and in his feet.


The Easter bunny did pay us a visit this year, but he obviously didn't check the weather before filling the baskets. However, the snow certainly didn't deter Oliver from heading outside with his sunglasses and gardening tools!


Here is Ruby and daddy relaxing after Easter dinner.



We had a big Easter dinner and Easter Egg hunt and Grandma and Grandpa Cornwell's house. Oliver loved being there and spending time with all of his cousins. He did loose all interest in the Easter egg hunt however, at the sight of an old deflated football. He already has his priorities and sports, or balls, definitely take precedence over candy.

It has really been great to live close by and get to participate in family events.