I think every six months or so I will write a little update about my kids and what they are doing. I love pictures, and so I like to post them with smilebox all the time because it is so easy, but I don't specifically like to write a ton. Anyway here goes..
Mckay has been keeping busy with the same old stuff that he loves - baseball, which just got over, the Farm, which will NEVER! be over, fishing, which lately is nice I just drop him and a friend up wherever they want to go and then leave (it's nice to have a thirteen year old....most of the time). Also now that baseball is over, he got a pass to Seven Peaks, so I can drop him off there with a friend and he's entertained for the day (which I am finding entertainment to get harder the older they get, not to mention more expensive).
I'm trying to find a way to not give him too much work to do, but also to accept some responsibility. He has to keep his room clean, mow the lawn every other week, clean out the dog pins every other day, take out the trash, and baby sit here and there. Plus if I feel like taking a risk, I'll have him do the dishes every now and then. Is that too much? I don't know. All I know is I never had to do all that when I was his age, how did my mother manage? He is such a good kid, but what mother doesn't think that about their child? He loves to enjoy the outdoors and also take things apart and then fix them in a way that they don't ever work again (okay, sometimes they might work it just might be totally wrapped in duck tape). This weekend he went camping with his grandma and grandpa. When the rest of my family went up to visit, he told me he had something to show me and that I needed to bring a pop can out of our cooler. So I take it and set it on a log and then he shoots the thing and we watch it explode. "Cool Mckay" is what I say but really I'm thinkin...What did you do that for? My sister in law was also camping with them and she had her new 2 month old sweet baby. She told me she woke up at camp at 6am to gun shots. Oh yeah, Mckay had to have a talk with us about when is an appropriate time to shoot a gun. Duh...I have a feeling there will be many more duh moments with a teenager around. Anyway he loves guns and also his newest favorite sport which is golf. He and his dad go quite a bit. He's getting pretty good. So what else is new with Mckay..oh, night games.. that's a summer time must apparently too. And lets not forget scouts, he is with them more than our family it feels like, and they take my husband with them. (that's all I have to say about scouts) Well, we love Mckay and so do our kids usually. He is a tremendous help to our family that's for sure!
Kelsey is enjoying her summer too. She is also up to all the stuff that she loves to do like ride her bike and roller skate, play on the tramp and in the water, play with her friends,and she loves to do little crafty things.
When she learns how to fold paper in some new weird origami shape, suddenly my house is decorated from top to bottom. Same goes for when she learned how to crochet. I still find pieces of yarn all over the house. The past couple of days have been nice because she has just wanted to hang out at home and play with Whitney and watch Hannah Montana and Witches of Waverly Place. Eventually she'll go play if someone calls, but she hasn't been on my heels begging to have a friend over so I'll take it while it lasts.
She has been a lot of fun to take places and she helps keep Whitney happy too. She is getting really creative lately when she makes her bed in the morning. She'll have to show me all the time how her pillows, stuffed animals, toys, and blankets are arranged. It's really funny, and I have to say creative. She is also my adventurous child. She is not afraid of going off the high dive, going down freaky water slides, swimming in the deep end, fishing (she can cast out pretty far!), driving (not just riding) the four wheeler, and she is always game to try something new and fun. Hmmmm I wonder where she gets that from. Her chores consist of cleaning her room and helping with dishes every once in a while. Mckay doesn't think that's fair. I say women have to do enough work when they get older, we should give the girls a break as long as we can, right? Well, we love Kelsey and the dynamics that she brings into our family.
Tyson is still my sweet happy silly kid. He's always got a smile on his face, and he loves hugs from everyone, especially me I think. He loves to go and do things, not shopping, but places that he can play. Walmart, however, is an exception, he loves to go to Walmart for some reason...I think its the toy isle so he can check out the new Star Wars Legos or trucks...He loves Star Wars lately and has to tell everyone that he has seen the movie AND it's PG "firteen". Whoever told my kids about ratings really bugs me. If there is a movie that I think they can watch (because even some PG13 movies are awful lately!) I let them. Anyway, someone recently told him it was PG13 and now he's proud that he gets to watch it. What a little rebel! Anyway he and his friends are always doing something to the theme of Star Wars. Its quite funny to watch and to hear names fall from their lips like "darth sivius" or something I've never heard of. He a
also has a favorite book of Star Wars that is a little above his reading level, but he tries his best, and I'm getting to know the characters from that anyway. He's my boy that wants me to do everything for him, and then he's so sweet that I kind of do it. Anyway, we love having him around he keeps us laughing. The other day we were at the Provo water park and he had his friend there. He kept running up the stairs and going down the water slide, then back up he would go without even looking to see if Tim was close by. He was in his zone - the I'm having fun zone so I hope your having fun too but I don't really care if you are zone. He also surprised me the other day when we rode our bikes from the mouth of the canyon up to Bridal Veil Falls. He didn't tire out at all. Going up the hills his little legs kept pedalling all the way there and back. He had a blast. Yeah we love Tyson too!
My little Whitney is getting bigger every day. She is the smartest little two year old I know, not to mention the cutest and funniest and sweetest(well when she gets what she wants anyway). She is always surprising us with something that she has learned. Last week it was really raining hard and Travis and I were in the living room and we hear Whitney singing. There she was standing by the doors going to the backyard, staring out the glass, singing "the rain came down and the floods came up" as she's doing the actions. Very CUTE! We got a little laugh from that. Then we were driving down to Provo and Tyson was sitting next to her and was apparently touching her car seat and then laughing. She did not like it one bit, so she says, "Knock it off Tyson!"
I think she speaks better than any of my other kids did at her age. I don't know any words that she can't say or understand, and the phrases that she's heard other people say and then she'll repeat them correctly in other situations, it's just funny. I love that she can express herself to her fullest. I was reading her this number book two nights ago and she would point to the numbers and tell me what they were.
She already knows her shapes, colors, and even some letters, especially W. Since it sounds like I'm bragging, I'll admit I'm very proud of her! Now if only she would be better at potty training. I thought she had it down at one time, but boy was I wrong. She knows exactly when she needs to use the bathroom and she'll go somewhere and then soon I will have a little girl holding a dirty pull-up up to me with a smile. I'm not smiling! The worst thing a child can do is take off their own diaper, what a mess, and that's what I've been dealing with lately. The funny thing is that I really don't mind. I have a feeling she is my child that can get away with anything!
Her favorite things to do are go for walks or ride in the trailer behind my bike, play Pet Shops, play with our neighbor Laynee, swim, paint, and watch Dora, Diego, and Backyardigans. She loves to eat apples all the time but strawberries are her very favorite. She is such a sweetheart. She loves to sing and dance and just...be a two year old. We love her so much!
Well I'm glad I don't have anymore kids, that is a lot of writing! I will just say that I love my family and they are such a big part of my life, I don't know what I would do without them.
