Wonderful Water Weekend

The weekend went too fast, as usual! We were finally able to go to the Water Park on Sunday. It was a little breezy, but Preston didn't seem to mind. He had a blast in the water, with Daddy! He is normally 'afraid' of the toddler play area and doesn't want anything to do with it. In fact, last time I was there with Mom, the ONLY place P would play was the motion ocean. Well this time was different, and P was pretty much a FISH! He played and loved the spouting water and did NOT want to get out! Every time I got close he would CLING to Daddy and insist on staying in. I thought he looked too cold and should cuddle in a towel for a while, but NO way!!:) It was a fun time, even though we weren't there for that long. Maybe we'll go back on the 4th? That may be a little crazy though.

Preston, lounging-on a rare moment OUT of the pool!

Bless You

Sometimes I miss that cuddly baby stage, where P would just nap on me and cuddle! Soo fun. But, then I'm reminded that the older they get, the more it gets entertaining, with PERSONALITY kicking in, big time!...Wherever he is, if P hears me sneeze, he runs in saying, 'Bless you Mommy, Bless you!' Sometimes it's just nice to be noticed.:-) 

We had the In-Law's here for the weekend. P had so much fun showing Aunt Charity all his toys. She's 6. It sounds weird to say he has a 6-year-old Aunt, but she is loving her role! She is Aunt to 3 toddlers, and is a little mother to them!! I should've gotten some pictures of them to post, but it was such a busy weekend, I didn't even think of it, until they had left!

We've been enjoying riding bikes! Since we've been married, Joel's wanted us to ride bikes together. So, 4 1/2 years later, we got ourselves some bikes! Of course now we need the pull-behind carrier, for P. He loves it! The first time I took him for a ride, I didn't hear a PEEP out of him the whole way, until the very end. I went down a steep curb and he came down it and said, 'Whoa!' from behind...That's the only thing I heard out of him the entire ride. Now he points at the bikes in the garage and says, 'Fun bike!' Yep, he knows. When Joel's Dad was here, he took him and his brothers riding out to Lake Cunningham. I'm going to ride out there one of these days, too. But haven't made it that far yet. When I go, I'm gonna make sure Joel's pulling P, because those hills are killer with him riding behind!:)

Summer Fun

We had a busy week last week with VBS every morning. Bible school was a Summer tradition for us growing up, so I'm glad for the chance to be a part of one again. This was Preston's first year of VBS, and being in a classroom setting for Bible school. I think he really enjoyed his time with the kids and for the most part really liked the puppets and songs everyday...when he wasn't too busy trying to run from me.:) All in all it was a fun time and while he was in class with his buddies, I got to help out with the Juniors, (4th through 6th grade.) WOW! They are such a smart bunch!! Do you know you know the show, "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" Well, I know I'm not...but being around these kids showed me exactly how smart they are...and the fact that I am not! The theme this year was dinosaurs, so Preston got to take home an inflatable dinosaur! JUST what we needed.

We're looking forward to celebrating Father's Day...hopefully with a trip to the Fremont waterpark.:) Tonight we're having friends over for dinner, so it seems it will be a very fun weekend. Next weekend Joel's family will be coming!! They haven't made it out since last August, so it will be neat to have them here again.

Here's a picture of Preston from church last Sunday. LOOKS innocent enough, doesn't he?:)

Memorial Day 2008

Memorial Day weekend was wonderful. Good times with family. Good food. I've really earned myself some extra time on the elliptical this week with all the wonderful sweets we had! Joel's sister Hannah graduated on Monday. She's the 5th to graduate. It's so crazy to me, because when I met Joel, Hannah was 10. She performed a beautiful concert with amazing piano solos and a fantastic vocal performance. Then we got to visit with family all evening at the reception. Tuesday, we played softball (our team won:-) and just had fun being outside. Preston was wiped out after so much fun with his cousin Micah (who is 4.) They had fun playing together, and wanted to be outside every chance they got! Since this was the first time all of the siblings and spouses were together in a year and a half, we HAD to get some family pictures. My Father-in-Law is a creative photographer, so I have to post some of the pics we took. Here's the whole gang:

In this one, Joel's sisters and I were supposed to be 'strangling' our husbands.

This one cracks me up. The wives had the money and the husbands were supposed to be showing their empty pockets. I think it's pretty funny that I had to borrow the cash from Cristi, to my left. My husband's wallet really was empty!:)

In this photo, I enjoyed feeling 'tiny' for once:

Here's Joel's parents with their grandkids:

1-866-HATRED

866-209-6227. Memorize it if you have to. This is an awful phone number. I get at least one call from this number everyday. During Preston's nap time usually. They are Discover Card. They want to sell me fraud insurance for my credit card or something like that. Not interested. DEFINITELY not interested. If I was, I would call THEM!! I am on the National Do Not Call List...I have called these Discover Card fraud obsessing people and have been placed on THEIR do not call list, which could take 30 days to process? during which time I could still receive calls. And I have been.

Well, today they called again...and I did not answer it of course. Caller I.D. is a wonderful thing. But, tomorrow...I'm ready for them. I'm going to answer the phone and say, "Pizza Hut, may I take your order please?" If they stutter or say, what? I'll respond with "Would you like to order one of our special large hamburger pizzas for only $8.99?" This charade will continue (I hope) until they decide it is best to stop calling my pizza place.:) 

Wow, I feel better now. I also just found an amusing article online that may help stimulate your creative juices if anyone else has trouble with persistent, annoying telemarketers. Some of the good ideas I found include: repeatedly asking for Bill throughout the duration of the telemarketing call and also to pretend that you have taken hostages and proceeding to list your demands. I'm not wanting to go to jail though, so I think I'll stick with the pizza plan...for now.

Wow, we had a busy weekend with family and friends, and today we are all dragging.:) Saturday morning I hosted a baby shower brunch for my second cousin and her new bambino. There were about 15 of us. JoAnn was in charge of games, and we had some good ones! First,we were divided into 2 teams and had to change and pass a 'baby' around the room until our team was done. It was funny seeing people change and basically throw the baby to the next person, with a backwards diaper on or a haphazzardly taped diaper. All I can say is good thing they weren't real babies. We ate good food too. Then, Saturday night we went to Matt & Becca's for a super fun outdoor-grillin' party! Great times, and fabulous weather!!

Last night we had some friends over for a little BBQ. They are from California, and are considering moving to Nebraska. WHY-you may ask?! For law school...certainly not for the change of scenery. They looked at houses yesterday afternoon, and then last night we went ACROSS the street, and looked at a county-owned foreclosure!! How great would it be to have friends RIGHT across the street?! Pretty great, especially since they are super fun to be around AND the house they like has a pretty awesome swingset.:)

Preston really bonded with them, especially Jeremiah. Jeremiah is a friend of theirs, and a fellow-PCC grad. He came over last night as well, and Preston immediately took to him. He led him outside where Jeremiah PUSHED him around the yard in his Little Tyke's car. They are friends for life now. I should've got a picture of that, but instead I got a photo of them on the couch, cuddled up watching Franklin-the Green Knight-which is pretty much the cheesiest movie ever.

Oh, I'm also posting pics of Preston helping Daddy mow the yard. By 'helping' I really mean getting in Joel's way mainly, but it did make for a fun photo shoot!:)

P might need a Sibling

Someday, Lord-willing, we will have another kiddo. In the meantime though, Preston will probably continue to be his own imaginary friend. The other day, after his nap, he was sitting at the table eating a cookie. He said, "Hey, Preton-whatcha doin'? Eatin' a cookie. Oh." I just stared at him. What a crackup! Do we not give him enough attention? Does he somehow crave conversation with himself? Sometimes throughout the day, I'll here him say..."You ok, Preton? Yeah, I okay."

Yep, someday it will be nice for him to have a sibling to talk to. Until then, he'll be his own best buddy!This is Preston with the little girl I've babysat a few times. As you can see, he loves her!