BUZZZZZZZ!!

All week long while we were at my mom's Ian kept asking to see the bees. My dad has been a beekeeper for awhile, but for the last few years he has not had any hives. Recently he bought back two of his old hives and is back in the business. Now this has the grand kids excited because they can wear the bee suit out with Grandpa to look and the bees, it has me excited because it means lots of honey!! Honey candy, honey rolls, and lots of pb& honey sandwiches--mmmm...



So, the whole time we were visiting my mom Ian kept asking if he could put on the bee suit and go look at the bees. We kept telling him he would have to wait until Grandpa came home. Everyday he would go look at the bee suits and venture out as close as he dared towards the hives. Finally on Saturday when Grandpa was back they put on the suits and headed out to take a look. (Here are a few pics--I finally had a camera!)

Look at all the bees!

My dad tried to find the queen for Ian to see, but she was hiding.

Ian with some honeycomb.

Getting ready.

Me with my little beekeeper.

The little beekeeper with Miles.

Big alien, Little alien. (The bee suits do look like space suits of some sort)

Lovin' This Weather!!!

Every day of cool weather means one less extremely hot, cranky pregnant lady at this house. Maybe we should move to Washington because I am just lovin' this!!

Highlights from a week with Grandma

Last week Dave headed north for a week at the Climber's Ranch. This has become a yearly tradition in which my dad joins him as they help prepare the ranch for the summer. We have learned life without daddy is no fun so we usually go spend the week with Grandma Leslie who is home alone as well. Here are a few highlights from this year's stay (no pictures I forgot the camera and my mom was cameraless as well)

*Hot Dog roast with cousins
*Playing with the big toy tractors in the garden
*Taking the dog on a walk through the field (only a few mosquito bites)
*Shopping with Grandma--hit the big sell at Bath & Body
*Going to Willow Park with the boys and seeing a peacock fly at Miles' head--and then seeing Miles want to chase the peacock around the park
*The kids yelling "clock, clock" everytime my Grandma Lee's Grandfather clock would chime
*Cotton, cotton everywhere--who knew it could snow in June
*Playing in the park with cousins
*Mindy making psookies (sp) really big cookie in a skillet...yum!
*Lots of great cool weather and some tremendous thunderstorms
*Visiting the Munk's farm--Miles liked the baby cows and is still talking about the tractor even though it made him cry
--Ian liked the tractor ride Jerry took him on and has now decided Jerry is his best friend
*Grandma made cute little folders for each of the boys and would work on their speech with them every night--it was so cute and now they will do it at home because Grandma made it cool. Miles says "do words, do words--get points." Hopefully his speech will improve a bit.
*Having someone to help with the meals, the laundry, the baths, the clean up.

Thanks mom we had a great week. Maybe next year you can come stay with us since Ian will be in school.

Memorial Day

Well for Memorial Day we decided to head down to Utah County. We visited my Grandparents grave. It is so strange to think they are both gone and within a year and a half of each other. Cemetery's are so interesting and especially on Memorial Day with all the flowers and trinkets people bring for their loved ones. Ian wanted to know the names off some of the headstones and when we found a little baby that had died named Clarence he decided this was his new favorite name for baby boy #3!

Pinwheel for Grandpa--Ian placed it carefully by the headstone about 5 times before he was happy with where it was.

After visiting the grave we went back to my grandparents house. My dad and his siblings are in the process of trying to clean out the house and get it ready to sell. Now those of you who know my grandparents know that everything they have ever owned was chosen with care and taken care of so well their house has become somewhat of a museum to us grand kids. Grandma had collections of little smoker men from Europe, ceramic Santa Clause's, more clocks than I could count, and not to mention most of the accent furniture was made by Grandpa. We spent the afternoon going through the house deciding where everything should go--Grandma had preassigned something to each of us. I got a grandmother clock grandpa made and a little statue of Mozart from Austria. But even after all the preassigning there was so much stuff!! My Aunt Sharee and my dad kept asking, "do you want this, how about this" so after pilfering Grandma's house we came home with a carload of stuff and get to go back for new furniture for our basement next week. Even if Grandma and Grandpa aren't around to talk to anymore every 15 minutes when I hear Grandpa's clock ding I will be thinking about them.

A Blanket in the Backyard

Yesterday I wanted to take the kids to the park for a little picnic, but feeling my usual tired pregnant self I decided a blanket in the backyard would be just as good and a whole lot easier. So we loaded a plate with sandwiches and apples and out we went for a picnic in the backyard. After we ate I forgot about the blanket-thank goodness the sprinklers didn't come on last night-and this morning the boys decided it would be a great place to look at books. It then became a great place to play transformers, eat Popsicles, and to just hang out! Who would have thought a blanket in the backyard could entertain them for so long--hopefully the novelty won't wear off too soon.

Milestones for a Little Boy

My little Ian is not so little anymore! Honestly I don't see him as a little baby or a toddler anymore--more of a buddy or rambunctious little boy, but with the impending start of kindergarten and the speed at which he rides his new "big" bike I realize he is growing up!

Here are a few pics of his latest milestones. The new two-wheeled bike was a Easter present and watching him ride it that first day reminded me of how great it is to learn to ride a bike. So fast, so fun, and what independence to cruise around not buckled into a car seat! He wears the helmet, the knee pads, and the elbow pads every time he rides--so much for always having skinned knees. He's a little nervous to go over bumps and the curb, but I'm sure that in no time the training wheels will be off and he'll be terrorizing the neighborhood.

Last week Ian graduated from preschool. He has so loved learning and making new friends with Teacher Lici. His class did a great program where they sang "The Star Spangled Banner" complete with actions. It was fun to see Ian concentrating and singing as loud as he could. He is ready for kindergarten and so excited to go to school with all his friends from Primary (they are all a year older). As of right now he has decided to be an astronaut when he grows up so I hope he enjoys school, because I do believe astronauts get their fair share.

Ode to Heatburn (aka "Burning Ring of Fire")

Inspired by Adam Lambert's rock rendition of "Burning Ring of Fire" Dave decided to pull out his Johnny Cash CD and let the kids listen to the original. Ian now has a new favorite CD and will probably grow up to be a cowboy. He can sing the entire song word for word (I don't know if this is the best thing although it is cute) and he and Miles have created a new game centered around this song. One of them wears a cowboy hat the other sits on top of the overturned laundry hamper. They hit play on the CD player and the one in the cowboy hat sings and dances around the one on the laundry hamper. It does look like some kind of child inspired rain dance. They do this over and over and over with the CD player on repeat.

So, the other night when awakened by the acid that the baby likes to kick back up my throat you can guess what song started going through my head..."I fell into a burning ring of fire, I went down down down as the flames went higher" I'm not a huge Johnny Cash fan, but at least I can thank him for serenading me through the sleepless nights of pregnancy heartburn!