Rodeo Fun 2018

Weekly Happenings: This past week, Paul and Joseph both had Monday off (Presidents’ Day), so we headed to the rodeo. It was a “Dollar Day” (grounds admission is only a dollar each, rides are only one ticket each, there are certain foods/drinks that are only a dollar, etc.), which is another reason we opted to go then. Joseph had fun on the rides, I (barely) managed to not get sick on the one ride he really wanted to go on but needed an adult with him (I don’t know that either of us will do that one next year; he admitted to it making him too dizzy afterwards, even though he said it was fun), we enjoyed walking around the grounds and seeing all the different animals, and had a fun hot dog lunch (side note: Abigail likes hot dogs, haha). It’s good that we had so much fun on Monday because the rest of the week was pretty average (not bad; just regular) and we were stuck inside for most of it due to the weather.

The Weekly Weather: As eluded to, the weather has been quite…damp. It’s rained a couple of times here and there (and we had a middle-of-the-night thunderstorm that thankfully didn’t wake either child), but it’s mostly been that in-between misting/sprinkling where if you’re out in it for five minutes, you still end up rather soaked, haha. We’re supposed to get a chance to dry out a bit this next week with rain in the forecast for only a couple of days mid-week.

What Paul’s Been Up To: Mostly his same laundry list: work, school, awesome-Daddy-ness, and the like. I love that he makes time for the family when I know he is so busy with work and school.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary on my part. Pretty much my same laundry list, too (that includes actual laundry, funny enough). I did have the difficult task of saying good bye to a good friend who is moving to Utah, but we did it in such a fun fashion (a legit surprise party), that it lessened the sting a bit.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He loved the rodeo, had a good week at school, and has had a blast playing with Abigail. The bigger she gets, the more she does, the more he likes to play with her. I do have to remind him on occasion that she’s little still and not quite ready for some of the rough-and-tumble stuff (her soft spot is still slightly there, among other things), but he is SO good with her.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s shown us that she recognizes the phrase, “Do you want to watch your babies?” (which is what I say right before turning on Baby Einstein), and is becoming even more interactive with us. On occasion, I’ll ask her a question that I usually know the answer to, (“Are you tired?”, “You want a pancake?”, etc.) and she’ll go, “Uh-huh”. I’m not sure if she really means “yes”, but I’d like to think it does. 🙂 She has also started clasping her hands together when I say it’s time for prayer and to fold her arms. It’s pretty cute. Oh, and we finished up her antibiotics for her ear infection, so I’m hoping that when we go in to have it checked out this next week that she’ll be in the clear.

This Week in Pictures:

She’s figuring out how to get herself up higher…she actually pulled the thing out and then climbed up on to it. Hoo boy.
A rodeo must-have.
He loves this cheese slide. He has to go on it every year.
Trying to “milk” a “cow”.
Figuring out the actual technique.
Fun times…
I love when he lets his inner goofy-side shine through.
I had to snap this shot real quick…it kind of captures the “carnival” feeling.
He loved this slide.
He even went on it twice.
This roller coaster was also a fun one.
He really liked being right in the front.
We look happy because this is before the ride, haha. 😉 This thing was soooo spinny. I don’t think we’ll do this one again. Joseph kept sliding into me and I was so worried he’d hit his face on the lap bar. We laughed through it (kind of forced on my part), but agreed that it made our tummies feel funny.
Making music.
Kitchen stuff makes for the best toys!
In the course of about ten minutes (or less…that’s just how long the car ride was), she pulled off her hat, both shoes, and both socks. She looks really sorry about it, too, doesn’t she? 😉
Showing me his “moves”.
In this week’s edition of “Stuff Abigail Wants to Carry Around in Her Mouth”: plastic measuring spoons.
I love seeing their love for each other.
So much of my heart right here…
She loved playing peek-a-boo with me in this thing.
Demonstrating just how to catch a Pokémon.
I’m sure going to miss this girl!
One of my friends who sells LuLaRoe had this dress that I thought would be something Abigail would grow into. When it came in the mail, at my friend’s suggestion, I tried it on her. I’m glad I did because it fits her right now. I would have been super disappointed if I had just packed it away only to pull it out and find it too small!

Love Day, Baby Antics, and Zoo Fun…Oh My!

Weekly Happenings: This past week was rather fun, for the most part. We celebrated Valentines’ Day (what I affectionately call “Love Day) by getting everyone a little something (we keep it pretty low key and involve the kids, too) and going out to one of our favorite non-fancy places to eat (good food and avoiding the crazy holiday dinner crowds). We also all tried to stay one step ahead of the baby-who-gets-into-everything-and-then-puts-it-in-her-mouth. Yesterday, we decided to head out to the zoo again (have I mentioned that I love having passes?) which both kids loved.

The Weekly Weather: It was pretty much a rinse and repeat of the previous week: literally a little bit of everything.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy with work and school. He also went to the movies with one of his friends, which was a nice break for him.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary on my part, either…mainly just keeping up with the kids’ schedules.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He enjoyed school this week as usual (including getting to pass out valentines to his class). I went to his parent teacher conference and his teacher says he’s doing really well. She’s kept busy with trying to find things that will challenge him and has come up with some really great ideas (some project-based learning and other things) that he enjoys. He loves coming home and playing with Abigail every day, which makes my heart happy.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: Unfortunately, her cold made her get an ear infection. I had taken her into the doctor the week prior and they said that one ear had a lot of fluid and the other had some fluid and a lot of wax, but neither looked infected. They had me bring her back in this past Thursday to check and see if they had drained. The one with a lot of fluid had almost completely drained (that was the one the doctor was most worried about), but the other one (which hadn’t looked too bad the previous time) was all sorts of infected. So she’s been on antibiotics for that. Luckily, she has been willing to take her medicine without fighting me (so far…we still have about a week to go with it). She hasn’t really been acting sick, though. As I mentioned before, she has been getting into ev.er.y.thing. Some other developmental things I’ve noticed this week: “singing” when she hears music, bouncing along to music playing, and getting excited when she realizes we’re putting Baby Einstein on the TV for her. She’s seen the episodes a lot, so she recognizes them when they come on. She can even recognize when one of her favorite parts of an episode (when the puppets come on and do The Wheels on The Bus, if you’re dying to know, haha) is about to play. I find it rather amusing. 🙂 She also loves pulling herself up next to things (tables, couches, etc.), has even “furniture cruised” a bit, but has yet to figure out how to get out of a standing position without falling (luckily, nine times out of ten, she usually just plops onto her bum, which is thankfully well-padded).

This Week in Pictures:

Piano buddies!
Love note from my sweet boy.
This tunic was in a bag of hand-me-downs from a friend. I thought it was perfect for Valentines’ Day.
Yup…she’s a wild one for sure.
She was crawling around with poor Batman in her mouth…I think it felt good to bite down on it (she’s pushing out her molars right now).
She also would crawl around with this kids’ cup in her mouth…it will be good when those teeth break through!
She loves being able to reach the keys on her own.
With the black bears at the zoo.
In front of the jaguars (who are sitting on the rocks back there…their camouflage is pretty amazing).
These giant tortoises are pretty cool.
They were mostly just lounging around, eating grass.
It sort of reminded me of Ralph (the desert tortoise we had as a pet while I was growing up…he’s still alive, healthy, and happy) on a much larger scale.
Zoo carousel fun.
Hangin’ out with the birds while brother rides the carousel.
She was fussin’ because she got herself wedged in here rather snugly, but as soon as she saw my phone, she smiled, ha.

The 100th Day of School (and other things)

Weekly Happenings: Not too much out of the ordinary happened this past week. We mainly just trucked along.

The Weekly Weather: It’s been typical February weather: a mix of everything, haha.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been kept pretty busy with work, school, and the like. He got to go hang out and play games with some other guys in Elder’s Quorum, so that was a nice break for him.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I’ve been mainly keeping the kids relatively healthy and happy while fighting off quite the allergy attack. It seems to slowly be getting better, but man…

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He got to celebrate the 100th day of school which was a day full of fun, games, music, and the like. Paul made him another Pokémon shirt with 100 different Pokémon on it to wear.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She seems to be on the tail-end of whatever has been bugging her. I ended up taking her into the doctor because she would be fine during the day, but then at night, her temperature would raise a bit. The doctor didn’t really see much amiss other than one ear that had quite a bit of fluid in it. It wasn’t infected, but she wants me to bring Abigail back in this next Thursday to check and make sure it’s draining.

This Week in Pictures:

Paul moved the living room furniture around a bit to give us some more open floor space.
I like it a lot. Abigail does, too. 😉
It’s fun to see these two play together. 🙂
Baby Batgirl!
A close-up of Joseph’s 100th day of school (hence the 100 different Pokémon) shirt.
He was pretty pleased by it.
Getting ready to go out into the chilly weather to go pick up “Buh-buh” (she seems to say that a lot when with Joseph) from school.
She definitely is his shadow at times!
Posing with the bronze Komodo dragon at the zoo. He’s really into pulling faces right now…can you tell? 😉
Now for a “please look at us normally” shot. 🙂