I'm always

amazed that early on kids can tell the difference between male and female "boys and girls". I wonder what it is that they see/hear to base their decision and try to think about what socialization has occurred to train them so accurately at such a young age. It's not that complicated I'm sure. Boys and girls often wear different style clothes and it's hard to purchase pink t shirts for boys these days ;0). Girls wear they're hair longer and can be less aggressive.

I had to laugh though when I put Lolo to the test the other day. He got stuck on Uncle Loyd. He leaned towards boy but when I challenged him on the long hair, he gave me that "you got me there" look. hahaha. And I'm not trying to tease Loyd on his hair. I just truly could not keep my self from giggling and had to share.

I snapped a picture while Vy was going through all sorts of feelings--cold, nervous about going to the diving board, sun in eyes, and this is what I got. so cute and silly.

Here's Toki jumping off the diving board. His instructor really pushed the kids, which I liked. For the younger kids they usually are right there for the kids to jump into their arms. This guy sat back and made him jump into the deep end solo and then came and got him. BTW, it did end up to be a "belly flop" which was a new phrase Toki quickly picked up that day.

mommy and me class. lucky me. It was fun though.

This Post

of our trip to Wyoming has taken sooooo long to do. I had to decide which pictures I wanted to use, resize them all, upload them to picasa and then here. Seriously was a pain to do and I'm losing the patience for such detail and organization. What motivates me is that I want to do it for my family and I just want the boys to remember.

This is the 3rd summer we've had the opportunity to go up to Wyoming with Chris during his summer visit to a company he audits there. This time around I decided to venture out a bit more with just the boys and I since Chris was working. In previous years I've been hesitant to do so because it can be a very stressful and complicated thing to do with 3 boys. We usually just take it easy and just enjoy simple activities.

One of the activities we did was drive into Yellow Stone and check out Old Faithful. This time we walked around the walk way and checked out the other hot pots. We were there for a couple hours and were able to see Old Faithful go off as we got there and before we left again. I would have loved to go see the Lower and Upper Falls and other natural wonders there but seriously just this trip alone took all day and it was the closest place from where we were coming from. The kids had a great time and we all crashed that night.



My favorite outing was our 8 mile roundtrip bike ride along the Tetons and 3 mile hike (roundtrip) to Lake Taggart. I had been eyeing the hike for a while and when we happened to reach it by bike made the quick decision to do it with the boys. Toki and I felt a sense of accomplishment that day. The other boys were just along for the ride and what troopers they were!

We were able to check out Jenny Lake early in the week and then we revisited it a second time with Chris at the end of the week. We then took a ferry ride across it and did another hike to a waterfall then Inspiration Point. It was pretty cool.

Overall it was a wonderful trip and I was really proud of myself for venturing out like that. There were some times I just had to pray and have faith that the boys would be protected and then quickly send my Thanks to Heaven for the blessings.

You'd Think

the pool was more like 8 feet deep instead of 8 inches deep with these maneuvers Toki pulled.






And just when I thought I was done laughing he does it again with his "I'm cold" look.

You're the best, kiddo. I love you.

Respite

This is where I come for some respite. For a time, early in the morning or when it has cooled down in the evening, I visit the garden. I take a look and start weeding where I last left off. I don't have to think about the dishes, the laundry or floors and I don't worry about the boys. At times they join me and ohh and ahh over the growing veggies and fruit. I enjoy it.

Dedicated to My Family

We've been doing swimming lessons this month and soaking up the sun. The older boys have been enjoying the pool tremendously. Their big personalities show up in everything that they do.

Toki, who is my oldest, had two kids who kept tapping his shoulders to get his attention during the swim session. It didn't surprise me but made me giggle. He has this gift of making friends and not just friends but really good friends, quickly. He is beyond me in this area. I try to watch what he does to pick up a few skills but truly this is not something I'll ever be able to borrow from him; It's just one of those things he is blessed with.

Then there is my middle child, Vy, who had picked the cutest girl to impress. "Look at me, I can hold my breath for 5 minutes." As he dunks his head in the pool for maybe 2 seconds, she's already bored and looking off in another direction. Not satisfied with his attempt, he's off again trying to get her attention. He is my social bug and not shy at all. Everyone's a friend and if they're willing to listen he'll take it. And if he's not chatting your ear off with that busy mouth of his, he's stuffing it with food.

Then there's the baby, Lolo. He absolutely refused to get in that pool for his class. On the second day I asked him "Do you choose time out for an hour or swim lessons?" In his exact words, "I choose time out in mommy's bed and cry." I laughed and then switched his class to the parent/tot session. And now we take swimming lessons together. He is so uptight the entire time and can hardly relax unless I am completely under him. He trembles through most of it and balls his eyes out after I dunk his head under. When he's done with class he's all smiles and goes up to his teacher and says S(th)anks!

The names used here for my kids are not their real names but after some deliberation I decided to use nicknames that are sentimental to our family instead of fabricated ones. I don't feel comfortable using their real names or disclosing specific numbers such as birth dates, age, etc. either.

Now with that intro. to the monkeys that I write about a lot, I turn to my husband. I received a really special blessing once which included that every morning and night I would thank my Heavenly Father for such a man. It is true. Now if I can just convince him to get into his trunks to join us at the pool he can see for himself how fun it can be.

I'm hoping the rest of the summer will continue to be warm and relaxing with not too many bored days in between. So with that, I welcome you to the new blog. Thanks for reading.

Some of you have already seen most of this video. I did change a clip before re-posting it here.