Freedom, Independance and the Open Road

Nothing says 4th of July like a road trip to small town UT.


After 6 weeks of hanging at the house with baby Crew and Cole, we were itching to get out, but not too far. Somewhere we could enjoy all the comforts of home and a couple of extra hands to help with the baby.

(pls. excuse the fuzzy Iphone photos...forgot my camera again)

1st stop: Mom & Dad Childs, American Fork
Celebrated the 4th up Provo Canyon at Uncle Ross & Aunt Charmain's secluded camping spot above Kamas. It was beautiful. The kids roasted hot dogs, Cole roasted his PB&J and the adults eat yummy tin foil dinners. The "big" boys road bikes and tried to fix the rhino and the little kids just hung from it.



Met Becky & Ben (Barb's sis) earlier in the day and tried to take in the Provo fair. We found a spot under a tree and took turns checking out the booths and buying tickets so the kiddos could go on a few rides. In the end the King Kong jumbo slide won out...3 tickets for 3 slides...can't beat it. Becky had her family color coordinated for the 4th, Ben said we looked like Halloween (sorry no photo of us).


2nd stop: Becky & Ben's, Mapleton
I decided to stay longer to visit with my sis and her fam. Greg went home for the work week and the boys and I headed south to Mapleton. Cole had a great time playing with his cousins and all the neighborhood kids. He'd wake up in the a.m. and head out the door. No fences and plenty of backyard sandboxes, trampolines and playsets.

One a.m. Beck had a mtg. at the house so the kids had a quiet breakfast tea-party in the basement. We took the kids to Gardner Village and fed the ducks while Beck and I took turns ducking in the shops. Wasn't ideal, but we did end up with a few finds that were worth the trip. A stay at Beck's wouldn't be complete without a project or two. This time we decoupaged jumbo magnet boards (pics to come).



We were headed down 9th east on our way back to American Fork (I took the long way so as to drive by BYU and some of my old haunts) and I just couldn't resist stopping at the creamery for a treat. I had to introduce Cole to BYU Creamery ice cream and the kid turned his nose up and asked for a Popsicle. Gee wiz.


3rd Stop: Mom & Dad Childs + Sis-in-law Lindy, American Fork
Lindy and her two kids (Caleb and Ashlyn) had flown in from North Carolina, so Greg flew back to UT for the weekend to spend time with his sis and drive us all home. Brandon & Tonya brought their boat down from South Jordan and we all headed out to Utah Lake for a little boating. G-ma bonded with the babe (and he took a bottle for the first time, yay!) while Greg and I took Cole on his first boat ride.

Cole was scared. He didn't mind climbing in the boat "when it had wheels" but as soon as we were in the water the tears started. I held him on my lap for most of the boat ride and if I moved he would whine "two hands mamma." So, I held on to my babe with two hands and we watched G-pa and Dad ski. Then all the cousins, minus Cole, road on the tube while Uncle Brandon tried to buck 'em off. Then the Childs sibs took the tube and we couldn't go home until all had been dumped.



The next day we headed to Tonya's and attempted to get a pic with all the cousins. (click on the picture to enlarge)





We eat Chic-fil-a (yum, yum), played king of the hill on the rubber mulch mounds, hung from the light posts and took a night photo of the Oquirrh Mountain temple on the drive back to AF.


What a great trip!

Project Organization

Last night after being gone for 11 days we came home to a funny smell emanating from the fridge. So, this morning I put on my workout clothes and my crocks (too hot to wear tennis shoes like the fly lady) and went for it.

Fridge and freezer now clean. Feels good. (next project...top of fridge and front of fridge)



I am now committing myself to take the rest of my maternity leave (now that I am starting to feel somewhat like myself again) to organize my house. Room by room, drawer by drawer...I want to bring back a sense of order.

When I'm working FT it feels like I barely have enough time and energy to keep every one fed and things somewhat tidy. I imagine with two kids now when I go back to work it'll be an adjustment again...so might as well use this time to put some organization back into the house and start some good habits that hopefully will carry when the household becomes a little more crazy again at the end of Aug.

Cheers to cleaning!

Summer Night

1 a.m.
Quiet house.
Cool breeze.
Crickets churping.
Happy sounds of baby nursing.
Good night.

Gymbo on Leather

See this clown? Think he's cute? Yeah maybe, but definitely NOT when he's smeared on your beige leather recliner transferred from the sweat of a napping 3yr old. After some aggravation, elbow grease with the leather cleaner (it didn't work), a call to RC Willey to see if my leather protection plan covered this (it does not), a not so nice customer service lady (who I told "thanks for nothing"...ouch) and a google search ("ink on leather")...I'm happy to report that a little rubbing alcohol on a microfiber cloth will do the trick.

Ahhh, the adventures in trying keeping the house nice with kids...

Christmas in June

Today when I opened my in box it felt just like Christmas. My friend Chris delivered one of the best gifts ever. Seriously, I feel so lucky to have such a talented and generous friend. She spent a few hours with us hanging at home and caught some wonderful images of new baby Crew and the rest of the fam.

Here's a few proofs from the shoot. Can't wait to see them all. If you want to see more of her work, check out Chris Jenkins Photography.

Mommy Mine

A dear friend gave us this book before Cole was born. Recently, it has become a favorite of his. This morning Cole was in an extraordinarily pleasant mood playing with his hot wheels upstairs. I was in the kitchen and I heard him calling me..."Mommy mine where are you? Mommy mine?" It made me smile and glad that I was his "mommy."

This reminded me of another recent "mother" moment...

I caught him singing to himself the other day as he was playing. I asked him to sing louder so I could make out what he saying. He piped up "Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques..." Wow, I hadn't sung that song to him since before he could speak. It was a favorite of mine as a child. My Dad lived in Switzerland and France as a missionary and he would sing it to me when I was young. I also took my kindergarten classes all in French and we would sing that song. So, a couple of years ago when I was reaching into my limited repertoire of bedtime songs to sing to my baby this was added to the nightly playlist.

Cole's recital the other day made me awful of just how much children retain and remember without parents really even trying.

In case you want to sing along, here's the lyrics to Frere Jacques

Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
Dormez vous? Dormez vous?
Sonnez les matines, Sonnez les matines
Ding Ding Dong, Ding Ding Dong

English Version:
Are you sleeping, are you sleeping?
Brother John, Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing,
morning bells are ringing
Ding Ding Dong, Ding Ding Dong.

Love letter

Dear stretchy pants,
What would I do without you? Fixed waistbands are so overrated.
Love,
Barb