Summers Sons' Saturday Soup

As reported last week Jack has started to scoot. I found him a few days ago like this. Nice chew toy huh? He seemed to think so.
Can you say Cup O' Beans! Sam can! He has a cup of beans that he gets to add to when he is really doing good and being a big helper. He recently reached the top of the cup and therefore gets a prize..... Here's what he chose! Yes a drum and a harmonica. He has really been into music lately and we hit up the Learning Post (if you haven't been there you must go, it has the greatest toys for kids). Sam was pretty stoked, um, me not so much but it is really funny to watch him wail on his harmonica. We finally had a super great WARM day here in the frigid land of Iowa and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Sam, Jack and I went for a walk and then Sam played outside with his neighborhood buddies who have been hibernating since the cold weather hit. It was great and I hope that permanent warm weather is near. Shawn and I finally went to the dentist (it had been like 4 years - gross I know) I have to put this down on record because Shawn went in feeling a little cocky since he uses a Sonicare toothbrush and was certain that would give him the upper hand. I don't like them, the vibrating freaks me out, so I stick to the old manual. He came out with 1 cavitity; I came out with 0!!! Yep thats right! But, before I could gloat too much the dentist then told me that I would need to get a mouth gard to wear at night (Shawn laughed thinking that it was head gear type contraption) because I clench me teeth; that there is a potential cavitiy lerking back in one of my molars, and to buckle up during my cleaning because she was going to go to town on me. OUCH - have you ever been prescribed Tylenol after a cleaning? I have, but boy its clean. So all in all we have a really big bill and another reminder why skipping out on the dentist really wasn't that bad right? On that happy note I leave you with this last pic of my two boys, I love these guys (most of the time :)!!!

Summers Sons' Saturday Soup - OVER and UNDER the WEATHER

Yes as the title indicates we've been all battling back from sniffles and sneezes. It hit me with avengence on Tuesday night and I am so grateful for my two wonderful and patient boys who let me lounge around on Wednesday and rest up, and for Shawn braving the cold to get me some cough drops and surprising me with some yummy ice cream (ice cream is like medicine right?).

We are also soooooo over the freezing cold weather! YUCK! Thursday Sam's preschool was cancelled because the high for the day was going to be -15, and that isn't factoring in wind chill that puts it 10-15 degrees colder. It is bitterly cold and we are hoping and praying that the weather gets better sooner than later. We are however excited to report alot of fun new updates with the boys:

1. Sam is officially in Primary! Our little Sunbeam wasn't too pleased to be in primary and cried most of the time (Uncle JD will be so pleased that he doesn't like church) Hopefully this week will go a little smoother. I still can't believe how quickly time flys and that he is really big enough to be in Primary.
2. Jack had his 4 months check up and the little porker weighed in at 15 lbs. 15 oz. and is 25.5 inches long!! Yes he had grown a bunch in the past two months and is now in the 75% in weight and height. He is still the GREATEST baby ever. He has started to eat rice cereal and seems to like it, though it ends up on his face for most part.
3. Shawn and I met with our realtors and are going to start the process of selling our house! We are so sad. This has been our first home and we've loved it. We just hope that things will go smoothly and that we will be able to sell the house sooner than later.....

4. Sam has discovered a LOVE for Golf that is Wii Golf. He is quite the little pro except when it comes to putting he doesn't understand "tapping" it in, but he thinks its funny to hit it over and over again!
5. Jack has started to scoot ... so its the funniest thing you can ever imagine and I'll try to post a video of him doing it soon. He puts his hands up by his head and does this back thrust and manages to move from one end of the room to the next. It is so funny.

Finally have our digital camera back!!! YEA!! I really wanted to post a thousand pictures and I've been taking all the pictures my heart desired, but I settled with five! Have a happy week everyone. Jack was so excited that American Idol is back on - we love Kara!!!

Back in the Saddle Again!

Yes we've returned from our wonderful vacation to Idaho. We had such a great trip, and the boys loved being loved by their cousins and grandparents. We also had a great time enjoying our being around family and friends and I already miss everyone. But it is always great to be back in our house, although this return is a little bittersweet for me because I feel like I'm only coming back to basically pack up and leave for good again. We have really grown to love Iowa and so we will have a hard time leaving, although being close to family definetly will help ease the sadness. Here are some pictures of Christmas from our "film" camera. Its so funny because I felt like I had to ration my picture taking to make sure I had enough film to capture the moments.... so needless to say if our Christmas had been digital this year we would have had a lot more photage. This first pic is what Sam should have been doing the entire time, but ended up missing much need hours of sleep. Here he and Cooper fell asleep about 10 minutes from home after being awake for a three hour car ride! Nice huh?
Jack hit some milestones while we were away - he rolled over and he has started to laugh! He really is such a happy baby and smiles and he has started to talk to anyone and anything. I'm just amazed by how quickly he is growing.

For Christmas Santa was extra kind and decided that since we would be leaving Iowa before the 25th that he would come early! What a great guy. He came on the 20th, bringing Sam his BIG HUGE Mack Truck. (When he told Santa that, Santa that he meant BIG Mac as in hamburger and was feeling really sorry for such a deprived child). Jack got a red wagon which he was ecstatic about and hasn't quite raving about since. Both boys got a John Deere Gator from Grandma Julie-dog that is still in the box because it is too cold and icy to venture outside yet.

We had a great vacation starting off in SLC at the Little America (a family tradition) where we enjoyed swimming and the breakfast buffet!! We then headed home to celebrate the rest of the holiday. We were able to go up to Island Park for a couple of days at Shawn's cabin, and it was BEAUTIFUL up there. Tons of snow equal tons of fun. In the picture of Shawn and Sam in the snow - Shawn is standing in the snow that is how deep it was!

We partied it up for New Years with some fun games and good food, and then I headed to Othello, WA with the two boys for my nieces baptism while Shawn headed home for school. Yes that means I had the fun experience of traveling with the boys by myself. BUt thanks to great people who could see my silent crys for help as I struggled to fold up the stroller while holding Jack and three carry-on bags we did great! (It really made me grateful for people who step up and help out and it made me more resolved to do the same in the future!) All in all we had a great holiday and it was wonderful to be with our family who we miss. Thanks to them for making it so much fun and for helping us out with the boys. We are looking forward to some fun months ahead as we wind down our time here in Waukee . . . until next Saturday - peace out!