Bad Mom Award

So, I started school two weeks ago.  Every single spare moment that Aiden is asleep goes to studying.  If I am not reading the biographies for African American history, then I am sweating bullets in Math.  Or trying to find out why I care about Environmental Geography... and so on.  

BUT we do things.  Our little family - we do things.  PROMISE!  The Bad Mom Award is because I just don't take the time to post them for friends and family to see.  Well, friends and family, here is the proof!

First thing that we do is - go to the doctor.  Aiden is having a few problems "down there" and Aunt Kari was nice enough to go with us on August 26th to see the urologist.  Long story.  Mad Mama.  Docs that don't listen make me crazy.  Ended up that he passed kidney stones that weekend.  

On August 27th we went to Discovery Gateway... along with every other family in the Mountain West.  Thousands of unsupervised children.  He did great, though.  

Aiden loved the construction zone.  He sat at the crane for a long time and just enjoyed being manly.

This cool wheelbarrow was a lot of fun.

The water place was fun, too.  Here, Mom freaked out at an 11-year old boy who was smashing toddlers into the water.  Not happy.

In the Birdhouse.  Everything was just the right size.  Aiden looked at me at one point like "See, Mom!  They make them my size.  What's with the big one at our house?"

He found a car that no other child was using and enjoyed it for a very, very long time.

His favorite part, the elevator...

The helicopter.  He thought he was so cool.  Okay, he was

See all the kids running around?  Yeah, mine is the one laying down chilling.  This was a really fun life-sized backgammon set that lit up when you jumped on the red or white wedges...

Like this!

That night, while Mom did homework, my two monkeys crashed.  On my bed.  It was made about 15 minutes before this.  Now, where am I going to sleep?

We also invested $4 in sidewalk chalk.  

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Isn't he so handsome?

We have played, cooked, colored, watercolored, read stories and had a Harry Potter marathon with Breanna and Kelle.  We really do have fun... We do stuff... see?

Fall?

With the Halloween candy already in the stores and school back in session, I can't imagine that it is autumn already.  Not with 98 degree weather and veggies still in the gardens.  But I realized today that Monkey has grown out of his summer sandals and so that must mean that it is time for sturdy fall shoes already.

So, we intend to leave summer kicking and screaming.  I started school this past Monday and am doing the whole thing online - at night.  Whew. Tiring.  But we still have warm weather and miles to travel before the leaves start to change.  I intend to make the most of it.

Aiden is out of these size 6 suckers.  Mister Huge Feet...

Fuzzy picture, but fun.  Aiden helped me make chicken fingers tonight.  What a stud.

County Fair

This morning, we went to the Davis County Fair.  I wish we still had the "fair" that would be like the old days of best jam and quilts and horses and chickens.  I counted today that there were 7 purse vendors at the fair.  6 cell phone vendor booths.  Since when do those things define the best of the county?  Ah, well.  I sound old.

We did do some really fun things while there.  We went early, enjoyed the heat (okay, we didn't enjoy the heat), and dominated the toddler area.  

We did actually ride these ponies.  I couldn't take a picture because I was desperately trying to keep Aiden from falling off Charlie, the tiny little pony.  Aiden giggled and laughed and jiggled.  The line of people waiting laughed along with him.  He thought that a pony ride was the best thing in the whole world.

I realized that the above pictures is suspiciously like the picture we took last year!

This one:  

Ha ha!!!  A year and no real changes.  I just about dressed him in overalls today.  Funny.

How much fun to have a bubble machine?  

The toddler area was perfect for little man.  It was covered and shady.  It had toys, musical instruments, and a sandbox.

The award for "Most Cheerful while Roasting" goes to this lady.  What a trooper.

Favorite toy of the day.  Quite possibly, Santa will be informed that he loves this.

Checkin' the blind spot.

Checkin' the tires.

We came home and slept for 2 1/2 hours, enjoyed plums, fixed hashbrowns for dinner and watched Thomas the Tank Engine.  What a great day.

Promise me

Promise me that every parent has "one of those days" because yesterday was a doozie.  Mister was no better or worse than usual, but I was in one of those moods.  For some reason, the bashing of toys into my legs - that doesn't usually bother me - made me so angry.  The running around instead of lying still during a diaper change made me so frustrated.  The constant "MAAAAAAHHHHHHHMMM" got on my nerves.  Poor bug got the result of it.

Finally, I just had to come back when he was sleeping and remember that it is not his fault - it is mine.  He went to bed confused because Mom was not happy with him and he didn't know why.  So, when he woke up at 11pm and crawled into my bed, I loved on him, cried and remembered why I love him so much.

Sleep over

Boy, oh boy, we are so lucky.  We had a fun friend sleep over at our house.  Cousin Jessica came over tonight because all of her family (that's right... ALL of her 4 siblings, both parents are in 3 different places..) are gone.  So she brought over the two small dogs and her slicky blanket and we had the best sleepover ever.  Pizza, making homemade raspberry jam (see below), Mansfield Park movie, and a late night.

Then, this morning, we got ready, loaded up, and headed to the aquarium.  I hate taking pics at the aquarium.  No lighting, but great fun.

My week with Monkey Boy

We haven't really done anything spectacular this week.  We did, however, have a full Family Home Evening for 20 whole minutes on Monday night.  Followed by a treat.  Homemade lemonade popsicles.

Our family home evenings are not long, but they are great.  We looked at pictures from the big blue box that the Church publishes.  We pull out random pictures and talk about them.  This week, Aiden learned about Nephi, Alma and Joseph Smith.  We always end with the picture of Jesus and the Children.  Short attention span, but (hopefully) he will start understanding what it is all about.

Wednesday - we didn't much either.  But we did do watercolors.  More fun than should be legal.  Thank heavens for Back to School sales on supplies like this:

Dear Aunt Jodi:  This apron is the best gift ever.  EVER!!!!!  thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!