Caleb the Bike Rider

On Saturday July 16th, our church congregation had a party to celebrate both the 4th of July and Pioneer day. As part of the events, there was a bike parade. The Monday before the party, we decided it was time for Caleb to learn how to ride a bike so he could participate in the parade! We picked up a bike from our neighbors about a year ago who were just going to throw it away, but we hadn't gotten around to buying training wheels yet. So once the training wheels were bought and attached, it was time to start practicing. It was a slow process at first, but it helped that Caleb wanted to ride so badly. He wanted to keep practicing even though sometimes he got frustrated. We didn't think that Caleb would be able to ride independently come time for the parade because every few minutes he'd lose momentum and need a push to get going again. He surprised both Matt and I at the parade when he went around the parking lot several times all by himself. I think the other kids were motivation!! He is now quite the expert and is getting really fast. He loves any opportunity to go ride his bike!

Carter, the fabulous wagon rider!!

Misspelled

Everyone has their little quirks and odd interests. I have to confess that I am a grammar nerd. I took a grammar class in college that really opened up my eyes, and I felt like I was finally able to piece together everything I learned in my previous schooling. I'm definitely not perfect, but I love paying attention to grammar and spelling specifically. In my opinion, spelling correctly shows refinement and attention to detail. There are so many tricky words though, and I'm still finding new words that I realize I've been spelling wrong! It's like a fun little puzzle for me. So here are a list of supposedly the most commonly misspelled words (misspelling in parentheses). Have someone quiz you to see how you do!

accommodate
accordion (accordian) I can't recall ever writing this word, but I would have spelled it incorrectly.
acquaintance (acquaintence, aquaintance)
atheist (athiest)
axle (axel)
barbecue (barbeque)
believable (believeable)
broccoli (brocolli)
cantaloupe
carburetor
cemetery (cemetary)
chocolaty (chocolatey)
collectible (collectable)
Dalmatian (Dalmation)
definitely (definately) This one annoys me a bit with how often I see it spelled wrong. It's such a commonly used word that I think people should spell it right!
Dr. Seuss A lot of people spell it Dr. Suess.

embarrass (embarass)
exhilarate
flotation (floatation)
gauge
handkerchief (hankerchief)
harass (harrass)
hemorrhage (hemorage)
indispensable (indispensible)
inoculate (innoculate)
irascible
irresistible (irresistable)
judgment (judgement) I have a funny story about misspelling this one when I was in high school.
lieutenant
liquefy (liquify)
marshmallow (marshmellow)
medieval
millennium (millenium)
minuscule (miniscule)
mischievous (mischievious) I realized not too long ago that I've been pronouncing this word wrong all my life.
occasion
occurrence
onomatopoeia
pharaoh (pharoah)
pigeon (pidgeon)
pistachio (pistacchio)
plagiarize
plenitude (plentitude)
poinsettia (pointsettia)
pronunciation (pronounciation)
privilege (priviledge)
puerile
raspberry
rhythm
ridiculous
sacrilegious (sacriligious)
savvy
sergeant
supersede (supercede)
ukulele (ukelele)
vacuum
weird

Learn anything new?

Building and Dog-sitting

Does anyone else feel like summer is flying by?!?

One of Matt's summer projects is to build a new play gym for the backyard. Our old one was gifted to us, but some of the wood was badly warped. I was nervous each recess for preschool when we had 3 kids swinging at a time that it would break! Luckily it held up for the year, but I didn't want to chance another year. Rather than replacing the wood that was warped, Matt decided that he would build a bigger and better play gym (male ego). Hopefully it will get finished this week, but here's the progress so far.

Digging the holes to place the poles and fill with cement (it has to be extra sturdy because it's extra big!)

#1 helper: Caleb

#2 helper: Carter

#3 helper: the dog we were sitting

Unfortunately his help included digging holes in our grass where we didn't want holes!!!

(Yes, Carter is eating dirt.)

The holes were the perfect size for Carter to jump in

All boy

Where we stand today. Still to do: 2nd tier, roof, attach swings, ladder...

The same night that Matt dug the holes, it rained (which we need desperately!) so he didn't get a chance to set the posts that night with cement. That also meant that the holes in the backyard became mini-swimming pools for Carter and the dog. Carter escaped in the backyard with the dog and thoroughly enjoyed the muddy pools, along with the dog. Then we watched as Carter and the dog climbed up into the sand table (I was impressed that Carter could pull himself up there!). 2 of a kind.

Not a fun clean-up, but the dog and Carter had a lot of fun!

The puppy and Carter were quite the pair for the 2 weeks we dog-sat. The dog stuck like glue to Carter whenever Carter was eating, because something always goes over the side of his high chair for meals/snacks. And Carter stuck like glue to the dog the rest of the day. He was fascinated by him. Carter usually greets me with a kiss first thing in the morning, but I moved down the totem pole with a dog around. The first thing Carter did each morning was run and lay on top of the dog. He would then give him a kiss on the mouth, which for Carter is an open mouth. It was gross to witness.

We learned a lot by dog-sitting. I've been contemplating getting a dog for awhile now because my boys love dogs as do I. I learned that we are not in a stage in our lives where we are ready for a dog/puppy! It was a hard 2 weeks. I think the puppy was missing his family desperately, and we had different rules in our house than he is used to.

4th of July

Is it sad that I didn't miss the fireworks that were banned here in the south? Ever since having kids, fireworks = crying babies and no sleep for the whole house until like 1 am when they finally seem to taper off. We enjoyed a family breakfast and baseball game with my family in the morning and swimming and hamburgers with Matt's family in the evening.

I truly am grateful for the freedoms of this country. As I am teaching about temples to the children in my church this month, I'm also appreciative of the opportunity to worship freely. My beliefs influence everything I do in my life, and I'm so grateful for this freedom.

Recipe

The recipe from my last post. Definitely yum. And I love her food blog.

Chocolate Orange Swirl Muffins

I made a few variations: I used milk chocolate chips; the orange taste wasn't enough for me, so 2nd time around I added a little orange extract; and instead of buttermilk, I used milk with a T of vinegar (a trick I learned in my BYU cooking class). I also under bake all my sweets by a few minutes.

Father's Day

For Father's Day, Matt got a chance to sleep in while the boys and I made breakfast for Daddy. At Matt's request, we made bacon and eggs. I love trying new recipes, so my boys also helped me make some orange and chocolate swirl muffins. They were a hit, and Caleb's been asking for them every day since Sunday.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Matt is a terrific father. The second he walks through the front door after work each day is everyone's favorite moment of the day I think! The boys immediately drop whatever they're doing to greet him at the door. Matt is so good about spending time with them, and they love him so much!

Day 4--Heading Home

We had to check out of our hotel by noon, so our morning started early. The earliest church time we could find was 9 am, and we had to take the subway to get there. The church looked more like a cathedral than an LDS church. It seemed relatively new and was beautiful. It was interesting to go to different floors for each hour of church. We only had time for the first 2 hours, but can I tell you how nice it was to have a week off with no kids at church? We could actually listen the whole time! And I loved going to Sunday School. Being in Primary, I really miss the other meetings.

We snapped a few more pictures below ground. We were really fascinated by the subway system of travel and how crowded it can get!

One of the items on the agenda for Saturday was to see Grand Central Station. Due to the rain, it didn't happen, so as we were walking back to our hotel, we made a quick side trip to snap a few pictures.

(The clock was not as big/tall as I had assumed based on Madagascar.)

Leaving the hotel

Catching a taxi back to the airport

The plane ride home was not fun. There was bad weather on the plane's route to Texas, so we had to taxi for an hour while someone rerouted all the courses. Due to this hour delay, we had to refuel in Memphis, Tennessee. We were either in an airport or on an airplane for 8 1/2 hours on Sunday. Not fun! We were so excited to see Caleb and Carter again though once we got home.

Worst part about the trip: The taxi ride to our hotel and the plane ride home were pretty bad, but the part I hated the most were the elevators in our hotel. The Waldorf Astoria is old and the elevators were not a smooth ride. If we would have been on level 10 or less, I would have opted for the stairs everyday, but we were on floor #22 of 25 floors. 3 days after the trip, I still feel like my equilibrium is off and I feel slightly dizzy when I run each morning.

Best part about the trip: I loved experiencing the city with my hubby. The heart truly does grow fonder with each passing year we are married. I look up to and admire him so much for the person he is. His areas of greatest strength are probably my areas of greatest weakness...we constantly joke that I'll make it to heaven hanging onto his coattails. I've never met someone with such a good heart who has the best intentions always. He gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, assumes the best of everyone, doesn't participate in gossip, and is willing to help anyone he can. He comes home in a good mood from work everyday willing to help me with the kids or dinner or dishes. If only I could greet him with a cheerful attitude each day! There's much I need to work on, and he is so patient with me loving me despite my faults. It was so wonderful to escape "life" for a few days and share this experience with him.