Looks Like They Survived ; )

I'm not going to lie--I was a little nervous to send BOTH of my children to the Father & Son's Campout.  Tyson has attended the yearly campouts since before he could walk.  Last year Tyson wasn't quite potty trained and Emmett was even younger than when Tyson got to go for the first time, so we kept the baby home.  Both Mitch and I were tempted to keep Emmett home again this time, and it wasn't until last second that Tyson asked if his brother could please go, too.  Mitch asked Emmett if he wanted to go camping and he responded, "Yesh!"  And so it began--Emmett got to with Mitch & Tyson, and somewhere, Daddy found a third "camping hat"...I have no idea why those hats are the kind you "HAVE" to wear when you camp, but it's tradition now.

 Tyson wouldn't let me load his camping chair.  He wanted to do it himself. : )

 I'm so proud of Mitch for getting a group shot on the actual campout, since that's never happened before when I've sent him with the camera, haha!

 Looks like they got fed while on the campout. : )

Emmett was probably the youngest camper, but he did just fine and was good.  Mitch stayed close by him, which made me happy since he's a quiet kind of wanderer.

 Apparently Tyson walked around camp and each time he saw poop on the ground, he called it "hyena poop", and about 30 feet away from their tent, there was a deer leg on the ground.  Mitch said that Tyson and his friend Kevin got in a little fight over what killed the deer.  Tyson was CONVINCED a hyena ate the deer, and Kevin said that it was a lion.  To a 3 year old, those are FIGHTIN' WORDS!  Hahaha!

Tyson also recounted that he and Max and Kevin were playing, and that they had pretend stick guns and some one shot it in the air, and when he made a funny face like he died (with his tongue stuck out as he looked up to the sky), that his friends all laughed and thought it was funny.  Oh my gosh, it's so cute that he cares that he was able to make his friends laugh.  I love my kids!

 They were on the road this morning by 9:45am and both kids were already zonked out.

Too bad Emmett fell asleep before he ate the rest of that cookie.  I had one of the extras and they were GOOD!

And Daddy followed suit as soon as he could.  : )  I don't think he really got to sleep last night.  He worries so much about the kids not getting cold that he hardly sleeps on the campouts, and the air mattress fell flat, so he wasn't very comfortable anyway, and he was afraid that if he moved at all, it would wake up the kids. : )  What a GREAT DADDY!  He cares more about his kids than he does himself.  I'm so glad he made the trip this weekend.

One of my favorite quotes was from my own Father.  Last night I was killing time at their house--we watched a movie until almost 2 am, and were talking about "Da Boys", and my dad said he remembers when he took Heber around that age to a campout.  "It's harder than you think," he said.  My mom and I had to laugh.  Moms are usually VERY AWARE of EXACTLY how hard it is to take kids anywhere.  It was so cute.  I'm grateful, though, for a husband who is willing to find out just how hard it is, and also how rewarding it is to spend quality time with his kids.  I love you, Mitch.



C'mon, Steve! We've Got Some Diem to Carpe!

A couple weeks ago, I stopped by a friend & neighbor's house to see how he was doing because I had heard he was sick.  Come to find out, he's not just sick.  He has terminal cancer. 

That was not the kind of thing I was expecting to hear that day.  Since that day, I've had him on the back of my mind and I've made an extra effort to "soak in" all the precious moments each day.  Instead of feeling like I'm "getting my fill", I'm finding that I'm not getting enough because those moments are fleeting.  You have to make time for them.  You never know when the few seconds you choose to look your kids in the eyes and listen might actually be the only moments you get that day because you have to leave for something and when you get home, they've gone to bed early.  You have to stop things that aren't important, and even when you do this, you still feel like there's not enough time in the day.  But it's a beautiful thing to get to try to soak in the moments better than the day before.  Here are some moments we've tried to seize in the last 2 weeks:

It's a miracle!  They're not fighting over the car, they've CRAMMED into it to share!

 The flash washed Emmett's face out, but the glass captured his reflection! Awesome!

 We chose to go out as a family even though it was cold and raining, and as a result, we got PRIME viewing at a nearly empty zoo, and had an excellent experience with the new Orang-Hutan home

 We saw some roses in bloom at a rose garden and stopped to teach Tyson about budding flowers.  As we left he yelled, "Mom!  Close your eyes!  It's a surprise for you!  Wait..." and he brought me a big beautiful rose that he found on the ground.  I carried it around the zoo & he made me feel special.

Later that week out of the blue one day he said, "You know, giraffes can stop and smell the roses."

And when the rose began to wither, Mitchell brought me a new rose that he got from a yard he was working in.  When Tyson saw the rose he gave me was replaced with one Mitch gave me, he pouted, scowled, and cried, "You ruined my heart!  I wanted to give her a new flower!"  So that same day, Mitch went to the grocery store with Tyson and bought me a rose that he let Tyson hand to me. : )

All those roses have now withered and died, too, but don't worry, the spring flowers that bloom on our bush out front are picked almost daily by Tyson to surprise me, and he's teaching Emmett how to do it, too. : )  I have the sweetest children and I love that they want to give me spring time flowers to make my day brighter!

 We were supposed to be making the bed, but Mitch caught Tyson and I reading instead.  : )  Dave Ramsey & Dinosaurs--it doesn't get better than that.  Haha!

 Does Mitch look bogged down to you?  No--he actually had an extra spring in his step because he was carrying ALL the fixings for our family to HAND CRANK homemade ice cream while we were waiting for the Easter Pageant this year...and boy was it delicious. : )

 Jilliam got sick in the hospital, and Emmett found the best spot in the room--on top of the couch, overlooking the valley. So cute!

 Sick face!  Stupid pneumonia!

 Our very first date EVER was an ASU baseball game, so we like to go back and relive the moment every now and then.  We convinced Mike and Lindsay to go, too, and the sweetest cousin eva watched our kids that night--thanks so much Ciara!  At the game we took a couple pictures like this & then decided that Mitch & Mike needed some "picture taking practice".  Here are some of the best takes:

 Since we were dating I was told Mitch wasn't very photogenic, but after glamour shots with Deb, I would venture to say that Mitch has reached the photogenic status.  Way to go, Babe!

 We may look like ASU die-hard fans, but just so you know, Mitchell totally yelled, "Let's go D-Backs" at the top of his lungs during the Sun Devil's game that night.  I laughed my head off and he was so embarrassed, but that's okay. : )

Mike & Lindsay's idea of picture practice.  : )

And as for my post title--if you are an uncultured swine...okay maybe that's a little harsh...if you aren't "in the loop", Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is one the most hilarious movies ever made, and that's where we got our variation on "Carpe Diem", but the principle is the same. : )  For your viewing pleasure, here is the link to the way our favorite show begins--my kids and I laugh EVERY SINGLE TIME:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ufmmsLf9rk