I'm not really back..... May 2012 pics.

Tad's favorite thing to do at the cemetery was to stand up all the tipped over plants.  Funny since it was so windy.  It kept him happy & busy.

So proud!

The air show was Memorial weekend.  We tried to get onto base, but they turned civilians away.  I was pretty bugged because Fred had gotten off work early to go with us.  And they closed early even though it rained all day.  Lame!

Looking at graves with Nannie. 

Walking around the cemetery with Pompa.

More airshow.  

Henefer Cemetery with Dad.

I love the view from the cemetery.

My cousin brought his puppy, Tad LOVED it. 

After our Annual Memorial BBQ we played a little cousin bocce ball.

Our bocce ball course involved over fences, under tractors, and avoiding cow pies.  :} 

Tad is getting so big!   He's super tall!  And he loved the peanut butter/ chocolate popsicles I made--- as you can see by his chin. 

April 2012

I know, I've been gone forever..... I can't say I'm back for good, but here's some pics from April.

Egg bowling

Finding eggs with Nannie

Pretty happy with his Egg Hunt Loot

Dying eggs with Mom.   He can almost do it all by himself.

"Patiently" waiting for his egg turn colors.

Daddy & Tad and their Easter Eggs.

Planting the garden.

Watering the garden plant by plant.

Another trip to the zoo!

Pony Express building in Tooele.

We drove out to help shear the sheep.  The rain delayed them, but we still enjoyed our drive and saw 150 wild horses. 

Roasting hot dogs in the backyard.

Chasing geese at Wheeler Farm.

Aunt Crystal & Tad.

Mom bribing Tad to pet the pony. 

Tad's reward for petting the pony-   sitting on the tractor!

T is for...

Tad has a favorite letter.  I bet you can't guess what it is?! 
You would be amazed at all the places Tad can find the letter T.  During lunch he found 3.  Two on his fork (the back says sTainless sTeel)  and whatever brand of corndog he was eating had a T on the stick. 
He'll say "Can you find a T?" when we're on the computer, until we let him push the T on the keyboard.  
His other favorite T words are: Train, Track, Truck, Two, Tad, Tickle, Tease, Turn, Tiger, Thunder, Trailer.
Mom's favorite T words are:  Timeout, Talking and Toilet Training  (Most of the time.) 

Our Two and half year old.....
* Has stopped taking naps (we're lucky if we get one a week, lucky for us, he's a happy kid).
* Is on Pepcid everyday for his acid reflux (without it, he wakes up crying and hurling every night between 12am-1am.  I've gotten really good at remembering to give him his medicine so we can all sleep through the night.  Before we got his medicine, I have to say, Fred was a really good sport for sitting up with him.)
* Thinks everything and anything is a "Snowmobile Trailer" for his "barrels".  His favorite is piling stuff on the recliner with the footrest up.  I'm hoping he grows out of his hoarding soon- I hate piles of toys all over, but even if I pick them up, or make him pick them up, they grow back the next day.  
* Says "Yuck" if we kiss his cheek, but loves to give kisses and "squeeze your guts out".
* Is one Tough kid- he can almost tackle us, and if he runs full speed at you, there's a good chance you'll lose your balance.
* Picks out his own t-shirt: Elmo or Bob-the-Builder.  If you tell him to get dressed, I can guarantee it's going to be one of those 2 shirts, but he'll put it on himself. 
* Can be bribed with bananas, chocolate, bread, ice cream, truck books, stickers, McQueen (Cars), Apple Juice, Grandpa's Gummy Bears, and cinnamon toasties. 
*LOVES the shower.  He'll only strip himself down (even put his clothes in the laundry without being told!) if I tell him he can have a shower.  If I say bath, he takes forever to get his clothes off.  :}  
* Knows his Traffic lights.  Red means stop, green means go, yellow means be careful.  He is the best backseat driver you could ever find..... as soon as he sees the red light, "It red, that means stop".  "Okay buddy, I will when I get up there."  :}  The other day walking home from church he could completely point the way to our house.  Comforting, if he's ever lost within a couple blocks of our house. 

* I say talking is my favorite, but the phrases I DO NOT like:  *"Would you get me that?" (it's usually 2 feet from him, or he just threw it).  *Every time he cries and I ask what hurts it's always "My Eye" (that's a tear, not a pain). *"No, I doesn't need to go potty". *"Yes you did see it" (repeated 5X after he asks if I saw something and I didn't). *"Where's your puppy?" (He's a puppy about 3/4 of the day and refers to himself as "Puppy".  Funny, since we don't have a dog.  Not funny, because I can't put him out in the yard when he's too hyper.) 
* Toilet Training is going well.  He completed one chart and we took him to the store right away to get a "yellow" treat (Yellow is his favorite color, it had nothing to do with pee.) Now we're working on a second chart to reinforce "rewards" and this time he'll earn Pizza (that's what he chose) and a treat.  I spent 25 minutes in a bathroom stall at the zoo with him because he can't pee if he hears other kids.  He did finally go.  :}  We've moved on to trying to stand and I have to say it is so worth it!  I'll take 4 minutes (2 to pee & 2 to clean up the misses) as opposed to the minimum 10 to completely strip him, get him settled and wait. 

Our goal for the summer is to work on mastering the rest of the alphabet! I'm excited, I don't know if he is.  
AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz

Time flies

Where has all the time gone?    Look at my little boy!  Only 2 1/2 and he looks so grown up! 

 Where has all the time gone since I was young?  I'm getting older - I've hit the big 3-0. Fred took the day off and we drove to Manti to go to the temple (this is where we got our endowments out 10 years ago!)

We enjoyed a session and shook hands with Ed Pinegar (the temple president and church author). Then ate at "Fred's sports grill".  (best cookie dough shake I've ever had!

 Tad had spent the night at my parents' so we could leave early.   We picked him up and went to dinner at Union Grill in Ogden.  Then went to play at FatCats.  He loved the kid area and learned how to tell the other kids "Go ahead" so he didn't get run over. 

We played in the kid area and did a few arcade games while we waited for our turn for bowling.   Tad is a tough little dude and can pick up the balls by himself.  (We couldn't find smaller than 8lbs, but he did fine.)  We didn't use bumpers, just the rolling stand.  Tad was pretty funny explaining to Fred where the ball was or where it needed to go. 

I love ice cream, so we got an ice cream cake- Mint chocolate chip. YUM!

Tad had to help me blow out the candles.

We celebrated my birthday at my parents' house on Sunday.  My mom made cobbler for my cake.  Tad helped me blow out the candles, then my mom lit them for Tad.  He covered my mouth so I wouldn't help.  Once I moved away, he sat there.  I thought he'd blow them out right away, but he didn't, he started singing "happy birthday".   :} All month he's been convinced that it was his AND mommy's birthday. 

 We finally got a good snow storm.  This winter has been really warm.  It came at an unconvenient time, as Fred was trying to fix our car and the wind kept blowing snow where he was working.  Tad seemed to enjoy it though. 

 The snow didn't last long and we were able to enjoy a nice March day.  I thought it would be fun to go fly kites since it was windy.   I'm so grateful for Fred's work schedule, we were able to drop what we were doing and head to the park.  You can't ever plan to go fly kites, if you do, the day isn't windy, or it's a cold wind that isn't very fun. 

 The weather was ABSOLUTELY perfect!   Just enough wind that you didn't have to run to get your kite up in the air.  We're so lazy! 

 (Fred and I bought these kites when were first married - Hulk & Sesame Street.   Tad loved them!) 

 Tad was content to run around while Fred and I flew the kites.   He held mine for awhile, but let go of it at one point.  Luckily Fred caught it.

Tad's favorite part of the park was the drain grate. He also liked to stand by Fred to hold his kite.  I think this picture is funny of the two of them.  I don't know how we managed to not get the kites tangled with them standing this close.  :}

Monte Cristo

Tad loves to ride the snowmobiles in the driveway.  After mine and Fred's hunting trips, we decided we should take Tad out at least once this year.   He absolutely loved it!  And he is constantly talking about  the "no-mils" and pretending his toy chairs are snowmobiles.   He tells us to cover our ears while he starts them.   It's hilarious.    

Getting ready to go.

Bundled up and ready to go.  He's going to hate this picture when he's older. 

Dad and Tad- they rode together most of the time.  I like to ride fast, Fred just likes to putter along, so it worked out perfect!

I took advantage of riding alone and stopped to take a few pictures.

Tad rode with me for a little bit so Fred could play on some hills. 

He's the perfect size for riding with-  he can duck below the shield so he stays warmer, but he's big enough to hold on.  I thought we'd have to keep him on by squeezing him with our knees, nope, he's the perfect little riding buddy (except when he accidently hit the red emergency stop button).

I love his smug little look. 

We tried to get him to push the gas and move a little so he knew what it felt like.  All he'd do is push the handle a little, then throw himself into "hold-on" position.  :} 

Climbing the snow hills as Daddy loaded the trailer. 

It was a perfect day out.  Not too cold, the machines worked great, loaded easily.  Snow was good, a little deep in someplaces- like this fence that I decided we needed a family picture by.  You can see how deep it was on Fred's pants- kind of a challenge to set the camera timer and "run".