Birthdays Galore and Much, Much More!

We just celebrated birthday weekend! On June 4th we had family party to celebrate my grandpa's 80th birthday, which we happen to share (June 6th). It's kinda funny, but my grandpa decided to share his party with me, so we had our pictures taken together, people sang to both of us, etc. My little brother's birthday happens to be June 5th (and so is Jason's), but no one said anything to him. I mentioned it was Eric and Jason's birthdays too, but either no one was listening or no one cared (it was probably the first one, Eric). On Sunday, June 5th, we celebrated Eric's and Jason's AND my birthday. And then my birthday was actually on Monday. My birthday lasted for three days, which in the eyes of some doesn't seem fair. I, however, think it is fair. Yippee!

Here's photos from J's big day:

Addie and Jason, opening his first present.

A potato! Hooray! He didn't say it, but I could tell that Jason was a little disappointed...

until he opened his second present and got a potato shooter! Alright! This present turned out to be so cool that he went back and bought three more so we can have battles. Anyone interested in battling it out spud-style, let us know.

And then we presented dear Jason with an entire pan of homemade cannoli. Happy birthday, Daddy! You're number one!

And then on my birthday:

We made bananas foster for dessert! Here's Jason lighting my dessert on fire. I was so excited for my birthday dessert and was delicious! Then Addie and Jason left me clues around the house... (here's a few of my favorites)



...that led me to my presents! It was awesome! Here I am finding a watering can, which is just what I wanted. Am I getting old or what? I also got a book light, which I was (and am) excited about. Please see the sentence before the last one. We had some great birthdays this year. Thanks to our parents, too, for their generous and thoughtful gifts! And thanks to little sisters for awesome birthday phone calls and handmade gifts!

All of those birthdays in a row confused Addie and she woke up Tuesday morning convinced it was her turn for a birthday.

Last weekend was a crazy and fun one. It started with our big ash tree getting trimmed, which resulted in a beautiful tree and a bloody arm. One of the tree trimmers got injured and bled all over the back patio and our ladder. I'm glad they cleaned most of it up. Then Jason's mom and two sisters came to visit!

The girls (Tricia, Cami, Caitie, Addie and I) went to This Is The Place Heritage Park and wandered around. Caitie and Addie rode a horse. We all got free ice cream cones. And we rode the train. It was a good time. Afterward, we all went to our Family Stake Outing on Friday night. I had been asked a week prior if I would draw pictures of kids that they could then color. So I did. And I drew adults, and dogs, and entire families even. I almost made a little girl cry after I handed her the drawing I did of her. I quickly did another one to try and make it all better, but she had the same reaction. The funny thing was that I had just done a drawing of her twin sister and she loved it. Anyway, it was fun but I don't want to do it again.

Saturday morning Tricia picked up Colton, Nathan, and their friend Shandon from EFY. We all went out for breakfast. There happened to be a grand opening at the D.I. next door to the breakfast place so we wandered over. There was five minutes to opening and a line at the door. For the D.I.. And a clown and balloons. For the D.I.. Addie talked to the clown and got a balloon dog, then we browsed the store and went home. For a D.I. grand opening, it was fabulous. Later we all went to Provo and cruised up Provo canyon to see Bridal Falls. Addie waded in and found some rocks (see above photo). Afterward we went to Niccoitalia's Pizza and gorged ourselves on exceptional pizza and cannoli (you may be interested to know that "cannoli" is plural and "cannolo" is singular. Just something we learned that may come in handy some day when we need to impress important people with our knowledge of Italian desserts.) After that, we watched fireworks from the balcony at Aunt Linda's and Uncle Marty's. Caitie and Jason named nearly every kind of firework: "inside-out watermelon", "shimmer me timbers", and "Scott Bakula", just to name a few. What a great weekend!

Here's El Champion giving his girls a ride.

Addie Funnies

"I played with Aunt Clare so much I thought she was my mom!"

She calls Family Home Evening "Family O' Meeting"

Her favorite drink is "rootbeard"

She calls dandelions "dumbdandelions" thanks to dad

When the dolls she was playing with kept falling over she said, "Maybe it's an erf keck!" (earthquake...I'm not sure how she knows what one is.)

The other day she was laying on the floor when she suddenly, in a worried voice, said, "Mom! My brain is falling out!" It turns out, just her braid was falling out. Phew.

After church one Sunday I asked her what she did in nursery. "Fought mean guys." "Oh? Just for pretend?" "No. They were real. We fought them with knives." I'm still not sure where this came from, but her nursery leader assures me there is no knife fighting going on.

She made up this story: "Once upon a time there was a little boy. He turned into a fan and said, 'Oh no!' The End."

She told me, "Daddy's at work helping people stay in their beds." That's close to what he does...

She says, "Yes-ah", "No-ah" and "what-ah?" instead of "yes", "no" and "what?"

She was having a bath when she pointed and asked, "What's that, mommy?" "A shower head, "I said. She laughed and said, "But it doesn't have a nose!"

We were at the library when she saw a man with a tattoo on the back of his neck. "Mom, "she said, pointing, "he colored on his neck!"

Our neighbor, Patrick was out working on his sprinklers without a shirt. When Addie saw him, she pointed and said, "Mom, he's a little bit naked."

"You can eat a banana, even though you're not a monkey."

She often says, "What you say?" with attitude after someone asks her something.

"Aw, what a cute mom that I have!"

We were waking down a hall at church a little ways behind the bishop when Addie said,"Poor bishop. He's old. He needs a wheelchair because he can't move very well." Our bishop is a grandpa, but he walks just fine.

A lot of her sentences start like this: "I have a plan..." She really does plan everything out. Here's a real life example: "I have a plan. Let's go out the door, close the door then lock it, then go down the stairs and play on the swings and then run down the hill and jump on the trampoline and then come inside and have a snack. Is that a good idea? Let's do it!"

She often puts her arms around our (J and I) necks and says, "We're famee! (family)"

She calls popsicles "ice popsicles"

We love this kid!

EasteRichfield

Well, as is my habit, here comes a late post on Easter and all the other things we've been up to.

Here's my pretty Easter girl with her rabbit in a headlock. The night before Easter I could not get Addie to go to bed. Running out of patience, I told her the Easter bunny wouldn't come unless she went to bed. "Okay," she said, and then climbed onto the couch. "Okay then. I'll call him up right now and tell him not to come to our house this year." I picked up my phone, pretended to dial, and then had a conversation with Mr. Bunny. Then Addie reached for the phone and asked to talk to him. She may have been on to me. I told her he had just hung up. I didn't leave anything out for her to find in the morning, and she didn't care. I ended up coming home during church to put out her basket and leave some floury rabbit prints on the floor just because I cared if she got something or not. She was pretty excited.

Jason's family tradition is to roll hard boiled easter eggs down rocky hills, so we have decided to do that in our family, too. Not having his family around for Easter this year, we invited my family to come along. It was a lot of fun!

We had an Easter egg hunt in my parents' backyard, and my brothers hid the eggs for her. Throughout the entire hunt Addie kept saying things like, "Thanks for hiding these for me!" "Good job hiding these eggs!" She's a sweetie.

We went to Richfield a few weekends ago to do some fishing. Due to large amounts of rain and snowmelt, the river has flooded over into a lot of the fields... along with the fish that usually live in the river. We went out into the cow pasture armed with bows and an atlatl (an Australian spear) with hopes of getting a carp or two or twelve.

This photo shows how incredibly deep the flooding is. Eric is over 6 feet tall.

Colton and the atlatl. Unfortunately, is was too windy and too overcast for successful fishing, so we didn't get anything. Except wet and poopy (thanks to the cows).


We went for a ride on one of the back roads to see a few of Uncle Eric's fields/ lakes. Addie was excited to sit by the window and look for birds and fish.

Uncle Nate taking Addie for a ride around the farm. Addie's got some really great Uncles. Seven, to be exact.

She's also got some really great aunts. Here's Addie, the goat, and Aunt Meagann. This is the goat that Addie tried to ride last time. This time she's pregnant, so we're looking forward to seeing the baby goats next month.


We were out in the field when Addie decided she needed to go potty. Not being very close to a functioning potty (the power was also out in all of Richfield and Venice for most of the day, which also made the water stop running for people with wells), we told Addie to pee like a goat. We leaned her against a fence and she went, only getting a little on the bottom of one pant leg (see photo). She was very proud of herself and told everyone for the rest of the day that she "peed like a sheep!"

This is Addie's Great Grandma Utley. Addie really wanted to play with her and went so far as to find her shoes in her closet so she could go outside. She held grandma's hand and led her outside to sit in these chairs. Then the cat came and jumped on her lap. It was pretty cute, I thought. It was also funny to hear these two have a conversation since grandma doesn't hear too well anymore.

Also, we taught Addie how to play kick the can. She loves it and is so funny. If she sees you, then she'll yell, "Busted!" and kick the can over herself.

We took Addie to a Blaze game (indoor football). She did well for five minutes and then started saying, "It's burring. Let's go home. It's too burring!" It took us a few minutes to figure out that she was saying, "boring". Having a toddler is a lot like having a tiny foreign exchange student.

Spring

Addie and I made a kite with the hopes that it was windy enough to fly it immediately.

It wasn't.


Here's another awesome old sign I discovered by chance the other day. I had forgotten about how I like taking pictures of old signs until I came across this one. Interest reperked! I'm on the lookout again for these beauts.


My mom took us all out for lunch a few weeks ago to a place called Firehouse Subs. It was pretty good! The employees were really nice and the environment was setup like the inside of a fire station. Also, they gave Addie a fireman hat. Does it get any cooler for a 2 year old?


Two pretty ladies: mom and Addie.


I have been painting little wooden dolls recently and so I had my paints sitting in the kitchen for a few days. One night, when Addie was supposed to be picking books for bedtime reading, I found her in the dark kitchen creating this masterpiece. "It's for you, mom. Do you like it?" Then she showed me how to use it (nice to look at AND functional!), which is to step over it. She was so proud, and to be honest, I really was impressed with her careful lining up.


Jason and Addie have two things that they like to do together, just the two of them. One is going to the bank and coming home with suckers. The other is trapping cats. We have cats (feral and domestic) that frequent our backyard and use it for a community bathroom. We have decided to reclaim our yard and battle these cats with bait and a cage. J and Addie like to set the trap together and then go out and check it everyday. Addie will sometimes go check it herself while daddy is at work and then report to him when he gets home. "No cats. But the food is still there!" They have caught 3 cats, including the one in the photo. Addie thinks they are all cute, even when they are hissing at her. One was the neighbors cat, which proved to be a little bit awkward when we gave it back. It just sounds so redneck to say, "I think I trapped your cat in my backyard." They do make good jerky, though.


We got away to visit J's family a few weekends ago. It happened to be Nate's birthday the day we got there so we went to Laser Mania to celebrate. Nana and Bapa took Addie around to play games and win tickets. She was pretty excited to pick out prizes at the counter. What did she pick? A bracelet, a sour licorice, a sucker and a bug ring.


It rained the whole weekend we were there, except for the day we left. Caitie, Addie and Cami played on the grass in front of the church right after church was over. It was a glorious day, perfect for such a celebration. Too bad we came home to a snowstorm.


Addie has suddenly taken an interest in dressing herself. We were getting ready to go to the library and this is what she thought was good attire for such an outing. Kids are cool.

Romping and Tipping

Addie loves to do the dishes. It's right up there with playing doll house or riding her bike. "Do want to help me do dishes?" "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Can I wear nour dubs? (translation: your gloves)" I realize this will probably not last, so I'm taking advantage of her willingness now.

I dragged my family to the St. Patrick's Day parade this year. I think I was the most excited about going, although Addie thought she wanted to go...

...until we got there. She was entertained, but not delighted. Neither was Jason. I was, however, thoroughly delighted and pleasantly pleased. This is the only time of year we can listen to bagpipers, so I don't like to miss the opportunity.

Ahh, the bagpipers in their skirted glory. Once we saw a couple groups of bagpipers pass under us (we were on a bridge) my yearly desire for this type of piper was satisfied.


A war between Old Man Winter and The Spring Maiden (I think I made that up) is currently raging here. One day, it feels like spring is finally here and the next, winter has managed to regain rule. I desperately hope The Spring Maiden wins. And soon. This happens every year, and yet every year I still managed to be baffled and feel tricked. Anyway, we had a wet but lovely spring Sunday a few weeks ago and Addie headed out in her rainwear for a good outdoor romp.


It was some good quality rompage, like only a two-year old in frog boots can do.

I really love this kid, she makes life a party. For example, we were having a fun making-dinner-with-mom party (above photo) until she slipped off the chair and landed on her head. Then we immediately began the sobbing party. It's just party after party around here.

An awesome dad is one who is willing to sit and play Barbies with his two-year old daughter.
Jason is a really awesome dad.

Addie made her first valentines this year. She colored them and put the stickers on all by herself.

Then she mailed them.

Yes, she put on her hat, coat, and purse just to go out to the mailbox. She was pretty excited about the whole process and couldn't wait to tell daddy about it when he got home.

So, I've been keeping a list of all the funny things Addie says and does so that I don't forget them. I know it's probably boring to read all about someone else's kid, but what did you expect when you decided to read my blog? Besides, I know a couple of grandmas out there that will eat this stuff up. Here it goes:

THE LONG LIST OF ADDIE-ISMS

• The other day Addie and I were at Target in the check-out line when Addie pointed to the lady in front of us and informed me that "she has a big bum." I could feel my cheeks start burning from embarrassment and my ability to breathe disappear momentarily. I looked at the lady, wondering if she had heard. She wasn't looking so I just assumed she was oblivious. I didn't want to say, "I'm sorry my daughter said you have a big bum. Oh, you didn't hear her say that? Well then, I'm sorry I said that my daughter said......" so I didn't say anything to the lady. But I quietly explained to Addie that "we don't say things that aren't nice, even if they are true." How does that even make sense to a little kid? Yes, she has a big bum and she probably knows she has a big bum, but we don't acknowledge the big bum. It's okay to say she has a red shirt or brown hair, but it's rude to mention the big bum. It must seem so confusing. Anyway, I hope she at least learned not to tell people they have big bums.

• She told the bishop last Sunday that his office smells like meatballs.

• We went out to dinner a few months ago with some friends. At the end of the meal the waitress asked if we wanted any dessert. We all said no, and the waitress started walking away. Addie, seeing that her opportunity for dessert was slipping away, loudly called after her, "Yes. Yes please. YES PLEASE!"

• During a sacrament meeting (while we were in Richfield a month ago) Addie was eating a sucker. She pulled the sucker out of her mouth and announced, "My sucker tastes like cranberries and...(long pause for thinking)... Carebears." (It was a strawberry sucker.)

• That same trip to Richfield, we were out at great-grandpa's farm and getting ready to leave. Addie was saying goodbye to all the animals, and it went like this, "Bye sheep! Bye horse! Bye poop!" Poop is a big part of a farm... maybe it should get more recognition.

• I caught her picking her nose one day and I said, "Addie, don't pick your nose." She immediately shot back, "But I have to get them out!"

• If you happen to ask what time it is when Addie's nearby, she will always answer "one o'clock". If you ask about the price of something when Addie's around, she will reply "fifty bucks." She's full of answers, even if no one's asking her the questions.

• She was eating a cinnamon graham cracker with milk one day after lunch when she told me, "I don't like foods, just desserts."

• One morning Jason and I woke up to the sound of quiet rustling in the living room. I got up to see what it was and found Addie sitting in a pile of gum wrappers. She grinned at me while she informed me that she ate all of my gum. Yes, ATE. It was a total of about seven pieces. As much as I tried to tell her that it was wrong, she just kept grinning and feeling so pleased with herself. She ended up being just fine, but her all diapers were minty that day.

• I was sweeping the kitchen floor one day while Addie was sitting in the doorway tossing a ball into the kitchen. We were playing a game where she throws the ball in the kitchen and I swat it out with the broom. While hitting one out I said, "Out of my kitchen, ball!" And Addie gave me a really serious look and said, "Mom, it's not your kitchen. It's Addie's and daddy's and mommy's. All of us."

• We went to put her to bed one night when she explained to us that she couldn't go to bed because her bed was broken. I'm sure she thought that excuse was foolproof.

• She does a lot of imagining during mealtimes and has her different foods talk to each other. One day she was making a chip walk around her plate and talk, then she took a bite out of it and said,"Oh no! My face is gone! I can't talk!"
  

• She puts on "tipping tows" for us, which is Addie for "skipping shows". She says, "Welcome to my tipping tow!" And then skips across the room and back with great gusto. I've had up to six "tipping tows" in a row.

• She says "new-brand" instead of "brand-new." "I want to hear a new-brand story." "Can I have the new-brand cereal?" It makes me feel like I need to get designer cereals and such.

• She was eating a cookie the other day when she announced, "Cookies is my whole world!"

• During Christmas she had her own holiday lingo:

ho-nans (snowmen)
gin-nan-nans (gingerbread men)
ta-ta-taus (santa claus)

• A few weeks ago she walked into the front room, stopped and said to herself, "Hmmm... what does it smell like in this room? (pause) Oh, it smells like mushrooms!"

• We made a nest out of pillows and blankets in the front room on Monday. Addie started filling it up with imaginary things. When I asked her what she was putting in the nest she said, "little bumpy pink birds."

She cracks me up!