Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Working Together


This past weekend, Jordan and I got to work together making a website from scratch in just a couple of days. A friend of Drew's works for Chris Buttars, a Utah senator. She was in charge of getting his website up and going, but had some problems -  So, she called Jordan on Thursday afternoon and asked if he could re-do the site and have it done by Saturday! We got right to work and I designed the whole site while Jordan coded it up. It was a hectic time, but a pretty fun project to do and a great chance to work together with my sweetheart! Here's the complete site. :)

Monday, June 23, 2008

The Wonder of Grandparents

Saturday night, we drove up to Salt Lake to see an old friend of Jordan's. On the way up we drove by a horse trailer w/ a bunch of horses that Landon just loved watching and was just so sad to leave when we had to get off the freeway. But, not nearly so sad as when we got back on the freeway to come home - way past bedtime - and there were no horsies to see!  For about half an hour we tried anything we could think of but all we heard were cries and pleads for "neigh! neigh! neigh!" Finally, when Landon was getting really desparate (not to mention me!) Jordan called his parents and asked them to talk to Landon about the horsies for a minute and then... silence - wonderful silence! :) All the way back from about Lehi Landon listened, perfectly content w/ only just a few "uh-huhs" and "broom broom's" to say, but not another cry. Oh how grateful we were for this wonderful Grandpa and Grammi getting our boy calmed down in just a split second and giving us a drive home in peace!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Kids Love Limits

In all of my behavior management training  in school and in teaching, I was often taught how important it is to set rules and limits for kids.  But, just this past week, Landon expressed so clearly his love for limits -- 

Landon still wakes up every night at least once. For months, he's been just coming in to my side of the bed, I drag myself up and walk him back to bed, and he's asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. Why does he do this??

Our latest attempt to thrwart his night wakings was to put up a gate on his door. (We tried this once just after he turned one and climbed out of his crib. He, of course, climbed over the gate as well... but we figured we'd give it another shot.) We were worried that seeing the gate would make him go crazy, so the first night, I showed him as I put the gate up and explained that he wouldn't be able to come get mommy in the night but that when he saw the gate, it meant "back to bed."  When I put him to bed and went over the rules of the car bed  - 'what do you do if you wake up in the night?' - he remembered the gate and said "stuck!" 

The next afternoon, when I tried to put him down for a nap, he wouldn't go into his room until I put the gate up. "Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!" he begged. I never would have imagined that I'd hear Landon asking for such a thing! :)

Tastes of Summer and a Happy Life

This afternoon Landon and I were sitting out on our front step eating popsicles and watching all the different colors of cars drive by and I was just thinking of what a wonderful place in life I am in. What could be better on a hot summer afternoon than sitting with your little boy and eating popsicles? We had just about the longest Spring that I can ever remember and I absolutely loved it. This weekend it seems that Summer has finally arrived. We had our Friday night date at the Orem Summerfest where we got to check out all of the fun fair foods and trinkets and all.  Landon loved running around and pushing his stroller through the maze of the park. I loved that it wasn't 100 degrees like the Provo festival always is. :) 

Saturday we had a picnic up in Salt Lake with Drew and April and we took a trip to the pound (the Humane Society actually) to let Landon see all of the animal
s. He loved the dogs, but was a bit overwhelmed when they all started barking at once wanting to go out for a walk with the workers.  -- Our little guy has a tender heart. One of the kittens was sleeping with his leg poking out of a slot in the cage. For some reason, Landon thought it's leg was hurt and despite our several attempts to explain otherwise, each time he has thought of that kitten in the past few days, he is so concerned for the poor "meow -- owie!" 

We also got to check out the Provo Farmer's Market. A bit funny because there is no produce in season here yet, so it wasn't much of a Farmer's Market, but it did have lots of fun booths to see.  And I'm excited to go back in a few weeks for some yum delish fruit! :)
Sunday we had a BBQ at my Dad's in celebration of Father's Day as well as my step-brother's children's baby blessings
And today, we got out Landon's sprinkler toy and played in the yard after a hot morning walk.  So, it's a happy summer time again! :) 

Monday, June 9, 2008

Piano Lessons

Today was my first day of piano lessons with all of my new students. I had four lessons back-to-back and I was a bit anxious about how it would all go, but they all turned out great! I'm excited for each of my new students and still enjoying my old students too. Now I have one sixteen year old girl, two 7 year old girls, and three 5 year old boys. A funny mix for piano lessons I think w/ all these little guys, but so far it looks like it'll be a lot of fun.
And just a funny thing -- I always give my new students a bag to keep all of there piano things together. It seems like the bags are just about the most exciting thing about piano lessons so far for all of my new students. One of the mom's even said when her daughter showed her the great new bag "Oh yeah, I heard about these bags..." (from one of my old students) Kids are funny! :)

Just some cute pics

Drew took these of Landon playing w/ his cheetah out by our shed. I thought the colors were so great! :)



 

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Grandmas and Grandpas

Tonight, my Grandparents stopped by our house for just a few minutes on their way through town. It was really great to see them and got me thinking of how I love all of my grandparents.
I have been blessed with many Grandmas and Grandpas, and have felt throughout my life the great love that they each have for me and for my family. Here they are in a nutshell.
Grandma and Grandpa Tripp - 'Tickle' askids (my mom's mom and step -dad)
Grandma Tripp is one of the hardest working people that I know. I remember well each time she visited  - seeing her with the scotch cleanser scrubbing our kitchen sink. Each time I clean and shine my sink I think of her and
 know she would be proud to see it. :) Every year, Grandma sends the absolute perfect birthday card. She has always been very generous also in helping our family in any way she can. Grandpa Ray loved his grandchildren. When they would visit, he loved to hear us sing or play the piano and I remember him being so touched by this. He loved to have the grandchildren comb his hair and would pay 5 cents/minute for a job well done.

Grandpa Pete and Joan (my mom's dad and step-mom) Visiting their home when I was young was like visiting a wonderful museum. My grandpa repairs antique clocks and his walls were full of them. He gave us a clock for our wedding ("Don't tell the other cousins, but yours is the best one I've given yet!") which we still have not found a place to hang
, but I keep storing it - maybe someday! Joan collects little collectible pieces and every year for Christmas we could expect a little animal figurine of some sort from her collection. :)






Grammi Char and Gramps (my dad's mom and step-dad)
Grammi loves books. I asked her once why she loved teaching elementary school and she said a big part of it was all of the wonderful children's books. She has been teaching for about 40 years now and still loves it at 71.  Some of my greatest memories are of watching her create the
 beautiful temple cakes she made for each of our baptisms. For several years, John went to school with Grammi and helped her in her classroom as an aid. I've loved to see the way they enjoy each other. 


Ron and Diane (my dad's dad and step-mom) Ron lived near the beach for some time when I was young and I remember boating with him and our cousins and what fun it was to get to take the wheel even. He and Diane love BYU football and travel around to see the games - so we get to see them sometimes when they stop through  Provo. 


Grandma Helen (my great-grandma, Ron's mother) Visiting Grandma Helen was always a surprise as to whether or not she would let us come in... But she really loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren. I remember writing letters to her and receiving letters in return with a dollar or two to buy ice cream of go to a movie. 

Grandma and Grandpa Brady (my step-mom's parents) This is true of all of Shauna's family, but I have felt in the years since Shauna and my dad married that we have been taken in so completely by the Brady's. They always remember to send birthday and Christmas cards and love to attend important family events. 







Grandma and Grandpa Johnston (Jordan's grandparents - mom's side) We got to spend a week in Oregon with Jordan's family last summer and it was really great to get to spend some time with the Johnston's getting to know them a little bit better. Jordan was very excited to bring back some of the great tools from Grandpa Johnston too. I've been watching some of Jordan's home videos and it has been fun to see him and his siblings with Grandma when they were very young. 

Grandma Brough (Jordan's grandma - dad's side) Grandma Brough lives up in Salt Lake so we get to visit her every so often. She is as sweet as can be and loves to show us recent pictures and hear about what we are doing in our lives. She is so appreciative of visits and letters. 

I am so grateful for all of these wonderful people in my life. 

Monday, June 2, 2008

More Mischief!

This weekend, Landon had one his most mischievous escapades yet. We went to our good friend Cassie's house on Saturday night for a BBQ and games. She and her husband are expecting their first -a little boy - in just a few months. Landon and his friend, Paul, were having a blast exploring the non-child-proofed home and leaving behind fingerprints on every sparkling surface they found. Outside wasn't much better w/ an empty lot right behind them with a big mountain of dirt - a dream play place for these little boys!

But, the real mischief came when we let them play upstairs while we started a game. We closed all of the doors so they couldn't get into anything, but after a while we started hearing suspicious noises and surprise! - Landon can now open doors!

I followed Jordan up and when I heard him call down the stairs, "Anybody have a camera?", I knew just where Landon would be... Sure enough - there he was, right in the toilet. Facing the tank, sitting right down in the water, fully clothed even to the shoes, feet and hands splashing around, and just about as happy a boy as he could be!

Yikes!