When it rains....

Well we live in Utah, which I'm told is a dessert. So when it rains we go out to play!

My favorite thing about this was when I posted this photo and my next door neighbor's adult son (expecting his first baby! a girl!) Kade commented saying that he played in this exact same pool when he was this age. Something about this "pool" caused by the horrible sidewalks of Pleasant Grove city has been here for 20 years and being enjoyed for that long makes me so so happy.

John couldn't stand to be inside, but cried every time he got wet. So I stuck him in the stroller to keep his feet dry and handed the kid an umbrella.

.....which quickly became the coolest toy in the yard.

And with no umbrella to play with, Little John discovered the joy of the pool.

In truth this storm was CRAZY. Crazy crazy. Lightening, thunder, floods all over the neighborhood, trees torn out of the ground. It was nuts. But once it calmed down a bit we went out to enjoy. 

The next day (Sunday) I went into the massage room so I could grab something out of the storage closet in there, and found this

Turns out while I was feeling bad for all the people affected by the storm, our basement was flooded and mudded. This is nearly 24 hours later. Josh and I mopped up the mud and water and moved on - reminding ourselves again how glad we are to be renting here. 

Preschool

Tommy started preschool this year. He really really loves it. He learns new songs and games and loves to show me what he did today. 

Plus I love the walk to school in the morning - his school is just shy of a mile away and it's a nice little walk for the boys. Tommy knows the way (a straight shot North of here) and Little John knows when he's allowed to get out and walk too.

We usually get there a bit early and the boys sit on the sidewalk playing together until it's time to go in.

Last week I drove Tommy and John was heartbroken when he realized that he didn't get to play. Poor thing. 

I wondered about putting Tommy in school - he has 2 years until Kindergarten, but decided last minute to put him in and I'm (currently) so so glad I did. We were lucky to find great teachers who he loves. 

Producing Produce

Last Saturday I helped my mom can her beans in exchange for a few bottles.

OK a few means like 9 million....

I got there AFTER the picking (bless her heart) and we washed and snapped and boiled and bottled and pressure cooked 58 pints of beans. That's right, FIFTY-EIGHT.

I really love doing stuff like this - as long as the kids aren't mad at me for abandoning them. Mom and I sat on the sofa snapping beans and talking for like 4 hours and it was lovely. Plus I came home with 36 pints of those beans, then went out to pick my own garden and found these.

And two days later, I was lucky enough to be given raspberries to feed my freezer jam addiction.

Obviously raspberries are the very best produce anybody has ever shared with anybody - but the beans are a close 2nd. My boys are in heaven. John downs them like he does most things. I swear he'd eat anything.

Love. True Love.

Tommy and John tend to make each other crazy. One has the thing the other wants and the other snatches is the one screams and the other gets mad about the screaming and screams back and then they start pushing and wrestling and if I'm lucky I get there before the kicking and hitting starts.

But during the last week or so, Tommy has become Little John's best friend and greatest ally. They've joined forces and I'm here to tell you that together they are unstoppable.

The other day we were waiting at the park for Josh to get off work so we could pick them up, and these boys had a blast playing with each other.

When Little John got to the top of the slide he was too scared to go down, so Tommy gladly jumped in and "trained" down with him. These two cheered each other on and helped each other up and loved each other the whole time. Tommy would say "you can do it Little John! I KNOW ya can!" and Little John would giggle and laugh and clap. It was a thing of beauty.

Meanwhile our bedtime ritual has started to include The Snuggle Bed. Because it just feels mean to leave Little John in his crib while Tommy and I snuggle. So, we all snuggle for a while together. And the boys love this. They laugh and giggle and tickle each other. They sing and play and have fun. They are simply adorable. 

There is nothing like watching these two enjoy each other. They are beautiful, lovely, kind and thoughtful children and it is a joy to be their mother.

This phase has lasted almost a week. They've stopped trying to kill each other and started to be best buds. And although I know it's just a phase and they'll likely start snatching things and picking on each other again soon, I'm soaking up every second of their goodness.

Garden

So we're growing a garden, and for some reason (I can't tell you what it is) it is going CRAZY.

Which is why we eat things like noodleless lasagna and zucchini bread and just plain tomatoes with nothing to even hide them.

But my favorite thing is when the boys follow me out and eat the teeny tiny tomatoes right off the plant. They devour them. None of those poor itty bitty tomatoes have ever even been inside our house. Or past the edge of the garden really.

That's how I know that Little John loves tomatoes. Also because he growls at them - as he does everything he loves.

But today after picking the garden I was up in a tree cutting down dead branches and being all kinds of proud of my kids for getting "out from under me RIGHT! NOW!!! or else you're gonna have a tree land on you and it will hurt."

When I got to the back porch where they were dutifully sitting quietly, I saw what was keeping them quiet.

One bite of each of my tomatoes. Just one.

Lousy vampire children sucked all the juicy seedy goodness out of the tomatoes.

They're lucky they're cute.

Lazy Man

Lindon City had a Lazy Ironman this year and on a whim I thought it sounded like fun. You do an Ironman....over the course of 2 months.

Only I didn't hear about it until halfway though.

So I signed up and asked Josh to be on my team. We'd share a shirt.

And what do you know - we actually finished it!

As far as a physical challenge a lazy man isn't really something to brag about. And splitting one with your spouse really isn't something to brag about. But I'm doing it anyway because GO US!

Plus there's something about meeting a common goal and working together for something...more reasons I'm glad we did it.

Both Ends of Murdock Trail

I had given up on a super long bike ride this year because I've been busy focusing on other things and biking wasn't part of my daily (or even weekly) routine and I'm a sissy and doing long hard things all at once without preparing isn't really my cup of tea.

And with no super long bike ride I didn't really see myself at both ends of our trail. Because...lame.

But 2 weeks ago Josh and I were going to see a movie and had a spare hour before we left, so he talked me into going for a bike ride. So we rode. And rode a little further, and then because the boys were happy we did a little more.

Until we were got to the place where the trail turns into Art Dye trails instead. Since we were kindof in a hurry (movie, hot date, no kids, babysitter, these are not things you pass up in my world) we headed turned and biked our little tails off on the way back.

Then all of a sudden I was accidentally halfway to my goal. Where one trail ends, another begins, and since we were at the beginning of the Art Dye trails, that meant the end of Murdock! I'd seen one end and all I had to do was reach the South end.

On Thursday when it was time for Tommy to go to school, he vetoed the scheduled bike ride to get him there and opted for he and I to walk alone while Daddy and Little John went for a bike ride. And when you have a bike trailer with just one non-fighting baby, you just go and go until the end of the world happens. Which is how Josh found the OTHER end of the Murdock trail, which really isn't that far.

So on Friday morning, I was convinced that we'd all go for a ride to hit the South end of the trail and unexpectedly meet my goal and feel all sorts of cool about myself.

So we threw the kids in the trailer, and headed up death hill to the trail and went on our merry little way.

Before I knew it we were at the end of the trail. An easy and quite enjoyable ride. (Said the girl who wasn't hauling an extra 55 pounds of kid in a parachute behind me.)

At the end of this trail, there is a busy road (800 N), then .8 miles before the next rail (Provo River Trail) starts. I vetoed the "ride along the busy road to see the next trail" idea and we called this the end. Which I think it technically is. 

On our way back I was on a "I did an awesome hard thing!" high and started talking about how we could probably go down to the other end today too, and see it all in one day and how cool that would be.

Josh cringed while I talked about it, and the boys screamed and poked each others eyeballs and started jerking the trailer back and forth and the decision was made. We wouldn't do it.

But then Josh had a brilliant idea. He'd take the whiney kids home and I'd hit the other end of the trail so I could feel all cool and stuff.

Long before we got home my butt reminded me that I was ill-prepared for this ride and I started second-guessing this brilliant idea, but Josh encouraged me and when they left I continued down the trail.

When I got to the Art Dye sign I was unreasonably proud and excited. Because BOOYA! I nailed it!!

And then on my way back I saw that I didn't nail it at all. I didn't stop to take a picture, because the sign nearly brought me to tears. Murdock Trail goes on another 10 miles before meeting up with Jordan River Trail. It just overlaps with Art Dye for a little while too. So I felt like an idiot (I knew that - DUH!) And hurried home so I could get ready for work knowing full well that I didn't have time, energy, water, or desire for another 20 miles.

So I came home and did some research. The Murdock trail goes 17 miles total. That day I did 20 miles (because of the back and forth) and I still haven't seen the 10 miles at the North end of the trail. So, I suppose that counts as an epic failure, but I totally nailed the long bike ride which is the part that was easiest to give up on for me.

Maybe another day I'll do the North 10 and enjoy it. But technically this is a big fat failure. *sigh* There's always next year.

Scouts

I know a lot of people who I seriously love and whose opinions I value who really don't love the scouting program. And I can see why, it's expensive and time consuming and not very likely to be successful. But Josh really loves it, and that makes me love it. 

Though spending $50 on an ugly shirt and spending an unreasonable amount of time sewing ugly patches to that ugly shirt is not my favorite hobby, I am a tiny bit unreasonably proud that I did it all by myself (with Charisse....thanks Charisse). 

And then I posted a picture on Instagram and my Aunt Sharon informed me (that's right, informed, not reminded) that in 4 short years I'll sewing patches onto Tommy's ugly uniform!!!! Which immediately launched me into the spiral about how 4 years after that he'll be all Deacony and 4 years after that he'll be driving around and hating my guts, and 2 years after that he'll serve a mission and before I know it I'll be the MIL reading posts about how his wife is sewing patches on his grown-up Scout Leader shirt. Now how's that for messed up?

Currently. Not. Blinking. (Except when I want to.)

The One Where Tommy Goes to School

As you may remember, Tommy was born in October which means he just misses the school deadline and will be old in his grade and young in his church class. Although he thinks he's "already 4" he's actually 3 and this was his first of 2 years of preschool.

I registered him last week when we finally stopped being afraid to commit because we realized school starts now.

Yesterday we went to meet his teacher and today he started class for the first time.

Yesterday we were probably the first ones there and when they asked him to find his name on the wall he froze. It said "Thomas" and the name he sees all the time and recognizes as his own is "Tommy" which he knew how to spell because we sing the letters to Bingo. "T.O.M.M.Y. and Tommy is my name-o" But then he started singing it faster and faster and now it's "T.O.N.O.Y" which is cute enough that I haven't tried hard to correct it.

Anyhow, he didn't see Tommy or Tonoy on the wall so I told him to find the one that starts with T and ends with S. After a bit more prompting he finally found it. I was surprised he had such a hard time finding it - but I don't really know if he's ever seen Thomas written out before. So, I guess we'll check off one thing learned in Preschool this week!

I was proud of him for being brave and amazed by how old he seems lately. He gets more and more capable every time I turn around.

After registering him for school last week I took him shopping for a backpack. For some reason I thought it would be hard for him to choose, but he took about .4 seconds to decide he wanted the Transformers backpack with flashing lights in the eyes. Awesome.

And since he loved it he wanted to make sure it was part of our first day of school photo shoot. Wherein Tommy played the role of director.

Cue pictures.

Hey T. It's upsidedown!

Muuuuch better - but I can't see your face!

Or my backpack!

Lookit' my cool transformers backpack!

And don't forget the garbage too mom!

And what about your face too mom?

This boy. I just can't tell you how I love him. It wouldn't be fair to try.

So why was I shocked when he jumped out of the car and I bawled like a baby?

There we were having a great time, talking about school and teachers and cool new backpacks and suddenly his teacher came out and he couldn't take his eyes off her. And when I opened the door to let him and his giant empty backpack jump out of the car he didn't even hesitate. He ran straight up the driveway, and turned around for a millisecond to wave goodbye and sign peace out.

I watched his empty backpack bounce up higher than his head and I couldn't stop the tears though I tried to smile through them as I waved to his teacher and drove down the road. They took me by surprise. I didn't expect to miss him or feel so proud.

But there I was - the pajammaed mom dropper offer sobbing over the loss of this baby.

And beaming with pride for this one.

Reilley Reunion

If one weekend (Wednesday - Saturday) doesn't give you your mountain fix I highly recommend spending the next one in the mountains too. Because lookit.

Josh's step-dad's family had a big fat reunion up East Canyon and we were excited to join them!

I've never spent much time with the Reilleys, we go to big stuff (weddings, funerals, Christmas parties) when we can, but they are typically short, and crazy, and all of Frank's siblings look the same (Chris.....Ryan.....) and have the same name (Kari, Carrie, Kaylee) and frankly I can't keep the straight and that's embarrassing. 

The good news is that with 2 whole days I was bound to figure out who was who.

The other good news is that since Frank (Grandpa Reilley to my boys) has 2 brothers who may as well be his twins. And since Little John has a special love for Grandpa Reilley it was like buy one Grandpa get 2 free! 

Friday night as we were all singing around the campfire, John wanted nothing to do with snuggling on my lap and went in search of his one true love. He wound up on Chris's lap (or was it Ryan? See? I still can't tell...) and happily snuggled in for about a half hour. When Chris got up to chase his own kids and passed Little John to Grandpa the look on John's face was priceless. "Wait a minute...if you're grandpa, and YOU'RE grandpa...... TWO GRANDPAS!!!!!" He snuggled right back into Frank and went to sleep. 

In addition to that evening Grandpa had a shadow almost the whole weekend. Fortunately he's a good sport and managed to seem unannoyed by the extra (adoring) baggage. 

This is John learning about life from Grandpa Reilley.

This is John chasing Grandpa "ohm-pa! ohm-pa!" and blowing him kisses to lure him back.

Tommy on the other hand, simply couldn't be torn from the playground.

Side note: "camping" is a relative term here. We slept in a tent and cooked over a fire. But there was a swimming pool, a playground, a mini golf course, tennis, and trailer hookups & condos at this same resort. I'm still not really sure how to camp in that environment - it's a very strange mix for me. But I will say that buying ice in your campsite seems like a really great idea.

He ran the slides, the climbing walls and the swings straight into the ground trying to keep up with his sort-of cousins who he deemed "a little-bit they are". Because the response to "is that blue guy my cousin?" is "a little bit".

Tommy has recently discovered the joy of "swingin' that thing around like spinning and puking on your tummy". 

He's still working on the concept that everybody has a name and doesn't just go by the color of their shirt that day. He still thinks that his friends in the neighborhood Cole & Payton are "that blue guy and that red guy" because that's what color their shirts were. Since he'll only see these "little bit cousins" once a year, and his parents can't keep track of their names, I think we might embrace the shirt-naming theory. 

The Reilleys can be an intimidating clan, but sitting around talking with The Moms (which group I was easily adopted into since I didn't have my swimsuit) quickly assured me that these are some of the most real and lovely people I'll ever have the pleasure of knowing.

Alexander Lake

There is a secret in the mountains for Josh and I. It is a place of peace and refuge. And not in the tree-hugging-hippie-way. Or maybe it is.

Life here is stressful because I'm a stress-case. Life there is slow and calming and peaceful because things are filthy and the agenda is to sit around and I am capable of letting it all go.

Life here is chores and meetings and seeing people.

 Life there is family. Just family. 

Life here is gardening and weeding and harvesting.

Life there is effortless beauty with no gardener. 

Life here is "why aren't there 2 shoes that match?"

Life there is "pick a life jacket from the pile and enjoy".

Life here is bedtime and routines. 

Life there is late night campfires, sunsets & snuggling.

Life here is safely, carefully, and cautiously.

Life there is choosing and throwing anything you want.

I know it's possible to chill out in civilization - but until I learn that skill, I'll settle for regular sanity-saving trips in my very favorite places. 

This year's trip to Alexander Lake included 26 humans. 12 of those are adults. The oldest grandchild is 13 years old. Go ahead and tell me how awesome we are and I won't tell you how the 10-13 year olds are really the best child care on this planet.

This year was a bit different because we didn't get our "usual" spot - something about an entire scout troop not wanting to sleep with 16 babies. Whatever. Sissies. Though I will say we were all glad for the distance when their bugle call sounded at 6:30am. 

Camping in a different area on the lake was fun, a different "beach" different trees to sit on and different kitchen situation. Though I miss the giant rock tables in the usual place. 

The boys did relatively well, though sitting around the campfire listening to scary stories about murder and monsters wasn't really their cup of tea. It will be when they're older and they'll be glad those stories are familiar to them because their mean mom wouldn't let them wander into the dark woods alone.

The thing I really hope they learn though is about loving these mountains. And all the others too. I hope they are always content to sit and throw rocks for hours at a time watching the ripples and looking for the next big splash.

Joy

Now that Little John climbs AND eats AND sits wherever he wants he is a whole new kind of happy.