cold blooded killers

I have always been afraid of bugs. Spiders, potato bugs, fireflies....I will not touch them. I have a hard time getting close enough to even cover them with a cup (or bowl so I can be further away) so that someone can take care of them later. Once we started having kids Ryan was really annoyed that my reactions to bugs might rub off on my children but I tried to tell him that the fear is something that comes from deep inside me and I can't help it! So I figured my kids were doomed. As a side note, I came out of Houston knowing that I was blessed, truly and totally blessed, to have lived in our apartment essentially bug and, with the exception of one experience, cockroach free.
Now we live in a house in the semi-woods of Vermont. On a dirt road and everything. We moved in during winter when the bugs and everything else was frozen. Once spring arrived we had a basement full of spiders. After a good spraying and an afternoon of killing (by Ryan) we are down to just the occasional ant and spider. My vacuum has a long arm attachment that I can proudly say I have been brave enough to use on the little pests. And without much screaming or shuddering for my kids to see.
Now that my kids are older and exploring the outdoors, I have been impressed with their willingness to do things I never would have done, even at their ages. Like hold caterpillars and fireflies in their hands! They love it! And I have enjoyed watching them do it. Then gradually Kate, when coming upon a little ant in the house, she would pick it up with her hands and throw it outside. How brave. Then came the day there was a spider and she ran to get the toilet paper. And just like that, she smooshed it in the toilet paper and flushed it down the toilet. MY DAUTHER! I didn't think it was possible.
So now, between Kate and Sawyer, there is a fight whenever we see a bug, ant or spider in the house, of who gets to smoosh it. I am very proud. And it feels nice to have my little creepy crawly killers here to protect me.

Because sometimes I'm too lazy to bring a camera...

Here are some of our recent happenings as captured on my phone:

Kate looking cute at swim team

Slip and slide in the backyard

Patriotic toes

Running through the sprinkler

4th of July Parade

Shopping at the store with the little carts, the kid's favorite thing ever!

And here are some videos of Kate in action at swim team. It really is just back and forth for 45 minutes working on kicking and strokes. She seems so big when she does it and we are sure proud! The last video is of her diving. And if you have a hard time finding her, she is always in all pink!

Happy Birthday Papa!!

What makes Papa happy?

Kate: "When he sees us"
Sawyer: "When he plays with cars"

What makes Papa sad?

Kate: "When we leave from his house"
Sawyer: "When me and Kate are not around him"

How does your Papa make you laugh?

Kate: "When he says my name funny like Kater Potater"
Sawyer: "When he did funny things"

What was your Papa like as a child?

Kate: "I don't know. I don't have any guesses"
Sawyer: "played with baby toys"

How old is your Papa?

Kate: "33?"
Sawyer: "53"

How tall is your Papa?

Kate: "Really big"
Sawyer: "like THIS big!!"

What is his favorite thing to do?

Kate: "go swimming I think"
Sawyer:

What does your Papa do when you are not around?

Kate: "Goes swimming"
Sawyer: "that makes me sad"

What is your Papa really good at?

Kate: "helping me"
Sawyer: "he good at swimming"

What does your Papa do for his job?

Kate: "just works"
Sawyer: "work things like fix things"

What is your Papa's favorite food?

Kate: "biscuits and gravy"
Sawyer: "carrots"

What do you and your Papa do together?

Kate: "swimming"
Sawyer: "swim together"

How do you know your Papa loves you?

Kate: "he plays with me"
Sawyer: "just cuz"

(I redid this from when I did it in 2009 here! Funny to see the difference in answers!)

Happy Birthday, Papa!! We love you so much and we are thinking about you all day! We can't wait to see you in just a couple of weeks! Hope you have an awesome day!

Hampton Beach

Ryan had the day after 4th of July off so we decided to head to the beach we had heard about. It is about 2 hours away from us so it was a perfect little day trip. We had mentioned our plans to some friends the day before and they decided to join us so it made it all the more fun! The waves were a TON stronger than we ever had experienced in Galveston so we had some fun riding the waves on our little body boards. I even gave it a try with my big belly, although I probably looked like a beached whale when I made it up to shore! Kate gave it a try once and scraped her knee up and wasn't excited to go again, but we were excited she tried it! Sawyer was afraid of the water but I took him out once and we jumped over the waves....until one was so strong it knocked me over and then he was done! I kept his face above water though so it wasn't too bad!! Other than a few trips in the water, the kids had tons of fun hanging out in the sand, building castles, getting buried and becoming mermaids!


What a beautiful day at a New Hampshire beach!

4th of July - 2011

4th of July morning we headed into downtown Hanover to watch the parade. It was a nice little parade that had lots of fire trucks, marching clowns and people throwing candy (the only thing the kids came for). The weather was perfect for a parade!

After the parade was over we headed down the street to the Dartmouth green where there was a little fair set up. We walked in and got some free cake and ice cream from the Hanover Historical Society and then decided there wasn't much else left to do and we headed home to rest for the remainder of our long day of celebrating.

After a nice little rest we headed over to our friends house in Norwich, VT. It is a gorgeous house with a pond in their backyard where we swam and rode in canoes and kayaks.

The kids had fun catching crawdads

Kate got pretty good and was catching them all by herself!

We had a yummy BBQ after the sun went down and then the kids got to do some sparklers.

After that we headed down to the lake again for some fireworks...the kind that only Daddy's can play with! It has been a long time since we lived somewhere where personal fireworks were legal to buy and these guys got the good kind. The kind that goes up in the air and everything!

After our personal firework show was over we headed towards home and stopped in Wilder where we watched the city's fireworks

It was a day full of fun celebrating America's Birthday, with cake and ice cream and everything!

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

Do you make countdown chains?
(days until vacation!)

or cookies to exchange?

(at a ward BBQ)

Or watch your belly grow, OH MY!!!

Is that what you do?
So do I.