The First 9 Days

 We are nine days into 2013. Really, 2013? Here's a brief (photo) update.

The 1st~

 The priests in our ward followed through with their plans of a polar plunge on the 1st. The boys met at the bishop's house, ate pancakes with buttermilk syrup and were plenty hyper anticipating the cold swim. You can see the two docks behind the boys. They were planning on swimming from one dock to the other.

 It was 31 degrees outside and I think they said the water was 41 degrees? I'm not sure but it was seriously cold. All the planning didn't work out because in the end, Dane didn't jump. He had taken his shoes off right when we got there and I think his cold feet were too much to handle. Nate opted for a life jacket in case the water was too cold for him to swim.

 He did just fine. He said the only think he could think of was getting to the other side as fast as possible. He said the water felt like it was biting him. Note how cold the rest of us were all bundled up? No polar plunge for me, ever.

 Nathan and his buddy Carter (the bishop's son) warming up in the van. We had it roasting hot in there. Carter didn't want to jump in but ended up doing it because he said Nathan's begging was annoying enough to say yes. Nate was pretty proud of those words of 'persuasion'.

The 2nd~

 

 We woke up on the 2nd not quite sure what to do with the day. The weather was cold and gloomy, we didn't want to travel. Entertained the thought of bowling/skating but no one was loving it too much. I asked if they wanted to set up the tent and camp indoors today and it was a resounding yes. I found my inner zen because I didn't ever get too annoyed with a tent that literally took up our entire family room area. Drawback of only having a big tent.

They each set up their own little corner. Blankets, animals, books, flashlights and games. It felt like July in there, muggy and hot. I can't get the photo off my phone (I'll add it when I can) but it shows the tent in all it's inside glory. It's a big tent and to stay up it has to be staked to the ground. I didn't know this little fact when I offered up indoor camping. Minor detail (ha). We rigged each corner with a chair or stool and it only fell in on them once. Success.

 Owen was more than happy to mess up each of their spots, ha. They placed Wii through the 'front door', watched a movie, we played a few games and even ate a dinner of hotdogs/hamburgers and fries in there. I vetoed the indoor s'mores in there, way too messy (Kat had chocolate in her eyebrows, don't even ask me or her how. No one knows). Sorry you're blurry Nate.

 Wall to wall, nearly ceiling to floor! The three big kids slept in there and loved it. I checked on them and the boys were shirtless and out of their sleeping bags, no way could I have slept that hot. They've already asked when we are going to set it up again. Um, not until I forget how fun it was to squeak by every time I needed to get in or out of the kitchen.

 The 7th~

 On most Monday mornings my mom takes Reed to story time at the library. This week, I was holding Owen off for a later morning nap because I had a hair appointment. He was crawling around playing with toys and I went to finish my hair/makeup in my bathroom. He usually crawls to find me if Reed isn't entertaining him but he never showed up. When I finished and went back to the family room, I couldn't believe my eyes. He found a binki and a blanket, crawled up on the couch and went right to sleep. I wanted to stop the clock right there for awhile and watch him and day dream about him. What a sweet baby. (He also took a rock star nap during my appointment)

The 9th~

  Today I should not have been making cookies. Today I had laundry to tackle. Floors to vacuum. Bathrooms to clean. Closets to organize. Beds to make. I could have started anywhere. But I didn't, I was distracted and slow. The clock wasn't moving either. At 1pm I couldn't believe the hours left in the day.

Reed was bored, he was begging for more TV or more computer. He couldn't play in his room with toys as Owen was napping. I threw out making cookies and in a second, he was right by my side. He said I was Chef Mom and he was Chef Reed. All he cared about was cracking the eggs, putting my Bosch on speed 3 and eating dough. In that order even. He also make up a joke.

Reed- 'What did the cookie dough say to the butterfly?'
Me- 'What?'
Reed- 'Leave me a dough!'

He's never sure if I 'get it' or not when he tells me his jokes. He made sure to follow this one up with, 'Get it? Leave me a dough?? Instead of- leave me alone??'  Sometimes he really kills me. Because I laughed a real laugh, he told it to me (and explained it) another 4 times.

 Owen loved the cookies. Well, if you look closely you can see what he loved most. The chocolate chips. He would nibble them out and discard the cookie part. He knows the good stuff already. Smart baby.

I still have the long list of jobs for some other time this week and I'm glad I do too. Otherwise, I wouldn't have these pictures or that awesome joke to document. Love my two little daily sidekicks.