Father's Day, More Fishing, and Summer So Far

Father's Day
For Father's Day this year, since the boys have been doing a lot of fishing, I thought it would be fun for the boys to decorate a frame and put in a picture of their first fishing trip together. It was so easy to do and the boys had a lot of fun making it.

On Father's Day, I let Dave sleep in while I got the boys breakfast and got them busy. Since Dave hates breakfast so early, I first made the boys something at about 8:30 and then made German pancakes and sausage for Dave at about 10:30. I am so glad my boys have such an incredible Father. I couldn't do any of this parenting thing without him and he definitely is beloved so much not only by me, but by his biggest fans: Cruise & Jett. 

After church, we headed to the Ybarras to celebrate with Dave's family. I got to spend some time with my Dad the Friday and Saturday before. My sisters & I took my Dad out to an Indian restaurant in Provo for lunch and then we had a big family meal Saturday evening while my sister Charlotte was in town. 

More Fishing

Crusie has come to call Friday "Fishing Friday," which means every Friday we've been fishing. This past Friday, since it hit over 100 degrees, Dave woke the boys up at 6:00am to go fishing. They were nice enough to let me sleep and then get my hair done. But those boys sure love fishing! We haven't been to the public pool since summer started because they'd rather fish than swim! 

Miles came too.

Summer So Far

Obviously fishing has been a big part of summer this year. We tend to do that every Friday. The rest of the week is pretty low key. Monday thru Thursday and Saturday, Cruise has in home ABA therapy from 9 to noon. He has good days and bad days, luckily this past week went really well and he is making a lot of progress. He has been learning things very quickly and his short term memory is improving quite a bit. Monday afternoons I take the kids to the dinosaur museum and Thursdays are library days. I try to set up playdates for Cruise every so often with some of his best buddies.

Cruise having quiet time in his compression hammock.

Cruise working with his ABA tutor Nathan

Cruise and his ABA tutor Jodi

Jett, as usual, is my little social butterfly and runs around with his friends Dylan and Camry. I always make sure he spends some quality time at home playing with Cruise though, since Cruise doesn't play with the other kids as much as his peers. It's so nice having kids who get a long so well. They rarely fight and they love being with each other. We set up the blow up pool in the backyard under the slide, so most afternoons I have the boys swim while I watch from the shade. That pool was the best purchase we've ever made. 

Cruise & Jett have been relatively easy on me and are excited for their new little brother. I have slowly been getting things ready for the new baby that we have decided to name Miles. His room is almost complete and I'm acquiring all the new things like bottles, formula, diapers, etc. I haven't had a baby around for a while it seems. I haven't seen a sippy cup in almost two years! But I am so excited for this little guy to arrive. I've been practicing my Hypnobabies program and am trying hard to stay hydrated. Miles moves a lot at nighttime and sometimes keeps me awake if he is kicking as I'm having Braxton-Hicks contractions. But he is pretty still and quite all day long.

I have also hit the nesting stage, so I first got new curtains for the living room and have started on the next project which is painting the banisters. I have one down and two more to go. I'll take pictures and post them soon. 

Oh, and I went red.

Really red.

The boys hate it. When I got home, they started laughing and asked, "Why is your hair red, Mom?" And then for the rest of the day, reminded me every half hour or so how much they hated my hair color:

"Your hair looks funny!"

"Why is your hair red?"

"I like brown."

"I don't like your red hair, Mom."

 Jett even started saying, "Mom has blood hair!" Oh, and Cruise says I should've colored it green. 

I like it, Dave likes it, so that's all that really matters. Lol! 

Fishing, Fishing, and More Fishing

After several unsuccessful attempts at taking the boys fishing (unsuccessful in that we never caught anything), Dave located the right place and the right bait (combination of Cheerios & Power Bait). The boys both caught their first fish at Vivian Park in the Provo Canyon about a week before school ended. Since then, we've been fishing pretty much every week. Now, as much fun as it is watching the boys get so excited when catching a fish, I will have to admit that this very pregnant, uncomfortable and heat avoidant Mama is not a fan of fishing. Maybe when 85 degrees doesn't feel like 1000, and sitting in a camp chair doesn't feel like sitting on a pile of rocks, I will enjoy it a little more. But having said that, the boys are addicted and it's adorable. I gave them the option last week to either go to the outdoor pool to swim or go fishing again, and of course they chose fishing.

Here are some pictures from their first catch. Unfortunately I wasn't able to be there for their first catch, but since then I have been in the front row putting Cheerios on hooks as they cast and reel, cast and reel, cast and reel.

Rainbow Trout stuffed with lemon pepper and butter. MMmmmmm.

The boys loved the fish!

And here are some from just a few days ago:

I think he loves fishing.

Farewell Kindergarten!

It is slightly upsetting to know that my oldest child is going to be in 1st grade next year. How on Earth did he grow so fast?! Mrs. Bair, Cruise's Kindergarten teacher, had a small awards ceremony for the class, nothing too fancy, but it made Cruise feel super special. I am so grateful that once again, Cruise had an amazing teacher. She went above and beyond anything required of her and just loved each of her students so much. I feel so blessed to have had Cruise in her class and to know that there are teachers that really care about my son and helping him do his best. If I could have one wish right now, it would be that Mrs. Bair follow him through each grade until high school graduation.

Somehow Jett made his way into the picture.

Mrs. Bair, the Aides, and a little more than half the class.

Cruise qualified for Summer school this year and last minute I pulled him out. I felt like it was the best thing to do for him this year since he started in-home ABA services with the Medicaid Autism Waiver program. I figured having his school at home with a one-on-one tutor would be more beneficial and it would allow him the afternoon to set his own schedule and just be a kid. His ABA tutor comes from 9am-Noon Monday thru Thursday and then Saturday. Friday is our family day since Dave has it off. After ABA, we use his visual schedule and put together his day using the pictures. He loves it and it makes him feel like he is in control of his day but makes it predictable. I also have a special activity planned each day for the boys to do. Last week we talked about birds, so we made bird feeders one day, made a lifecycle of a chicken mini-poster another day, etc. So far, things are going really well and he is getting used to the new ABA schedule. And to tell you the truth, I have really liked having that kid around. When Jett takes off to play with his friends, Cruise is usually hanging out with me and we get to talk and play a lot together. But I also think Jett likes having Cruise around more too. The two play a lot together and have a lot of fun playing in the pool and jumping on the trampoline. Cruise even taught Jett how to pump his legs when swinging, so we are currently trying to sell a bunch of stuff so we can buy them a nice swing set. So far this summer is going better than I had expected. I think I expected the worst, but the boys are usually pretty good and help me out a lot. And luckily I have access to A/C and popsicles.

Good Day Sunshine!

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Now that the sun is out and the weather is nice, we have been able to start visiting the Thanksgiving Point farm again. We love our Thanksgiving Point passes! All winter we go to the dinosaur museum, which the kids don't seem to ever get tired of, and during the summer, we get to visit the other awesome places like the farm and the children't discovery gardens.

Dave has been working some more on the treehouse. He put in a bridge between the two platforms, which is really nice and the boys love it!

The other day I was taking a break in my room and heard the boys quietly plotting. All I could see out my bedroom door was them walking past carrying pillows & blankets. A minute later I decided to see what they were up to. I got to the top of the stairs and found them snapping on helmets, sitting on top of all the pillows. I told them, "Guys, the pillows aren't going to slide down the stairs. Someone is going to get hurt." Jett responds, "No mom, we got helmets! We not going to get hurt!" Now, by this time of the day, I'm too exhausted to care, and I mean, they did have helmets. But this was the end result:

It also got hot enough to pull the pool out! I couldn't believe how hot it got! The boys were really excited about it and now throw their trunks on as soon as it gets warm enough during the day. 

Yep, Jett pushed Cruise. He can dish it, but can't take it.

Cruise really wanted to swim with his two most prized possessions: his bird hat and his Teddy.

Poor Teddy.