Pioneer Day and the Disappearing Movies

Let's see, it's been a while since we blogged, so I have some catching up to do. For the 24th of July (aka Pioneer Day in Utah for all who don't live in Utah) Doug and I decided to head down to Spanish Fork to check out their celebration. They had a carnival with rides and booths and a rodeo and we had no money. But luckily they had a playground so it wasn't a total waste. I mean, if you're going to go out in 100 degree weather and spend some quality time gripping and complaining as a family, there better be a playground for the kids. So at least Evelynn had a good time. :) The main reason we went was to see the fireworks that night. On the Spanish Fork city website it said that there would be a band playing oldies music (like the Beatles) at this park up until the fireworks started. So we go to this park, and no one is there. So we're like maybe we got the wrong park. Back to the playground we go and then we head over to the park again around 9:00pm when it said on the website that the fireworks were going to start. There's lots more people there, but no band and no fireworks. Now it's 9:30 and I have two kids who are exhausted, hot and hungry (we ate at like 5:00!) and a husband who is the same. To distract ourselves we get out the Frisbee (thank goodness for that foresight!) and try to play a family game of that. Turns out that Evelynn has a natural Frisbee throwing skill. That kid has an arm and she can definitely get it to you, you just have to be paying attention or it'll take out your knee or your nose! That kept her entertained for quite a while, and then some other kids had bubbles and they all played with those. By this time it was after 10 pm and I was getting annoyed. We could hear the rodeo still going on so we figured the fireworks would start when that ended. We could hear the announcer in our park and Doug and I both thought he sounded just like Bill Engvall! (For those of you who don't know he is a comedian on the level of Jeff Foxworthy who does a lot of clean and redneckish type comedy. We really like him and I highly recommend him.) Well, the rodeo gets over, all the lights at the park go off and Evelynn immediatly starts to wander away from us. I'm thinking, oh great, we wait and hour and and half (it was then 10:30) so someone to cut the lights and have my daughter wander off into a huge crowd! We get her corralled and then the fireworks start 10 minutes later and Evelynn by this time is totally wired and tired and so she watched 5 minutes of the 20 minute show and is done. Needless to say the fireworks were less than impressive and the only reason we went down in the first place was for Evelynn who had been asking for fireworks since the 4th of July. She literally started crying one day when I tried to explain to her that fireworks were gone or all done until next year. So I thought this would be a prime opportunity....yeah totally not worth it. We walk back to our car and drive home and Evelynn is asleep within 30 seconds. At least that was nice. Moral of the story is to never trust a city website... or at least Spanish Fork's.

The case of the disappearing movies was kind of funny. So like every little kid, Evelynn loves to watch movies. Some of her favorites include Annie, Hairspray, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Little Rascals, Sandlot, The Incredibles, Eloise at the Plaza and home movies of herself. We used to have the movies on our bookshelves in the living room. She would climb up on the chair next to it and take down the one she wanted, open it, open the DVD player on the computer, shove the movie into it and then shove the player closed. Sometimes this would work and the DVD player would open on the computer and the movie would start and if I wasn't aware of her doing this I would come in to find her watching a movie when I didn't want her to be. But sometimes it wouldn't work and the DVD would get stuck in the player as she was trying to close it, or it would get stuck in the case and she would be desperately trying to get it out. We've lost two DVD's to these antics (Cars and Second Hand Lions) and we've had several more scratched by her dropping them on the floor on accident and then trying to pick it up by sliding it over the floor until she gets a grip in it. I miss the VHS in a lot of ways because they were much more durable. If someone comes up with a way to make scratch proof or even scratch resistant DVD's, that would be nice. One night I'd had enough so Doug and I moved all the DVD's into the coat closet on the top shelf where she definitely couldn't reach. The next morning she runs out and looks to the wall where the movies used to be. All of the sudden Doug hears this forlorn "Oh no! Watch a movie? Oh no!" Evelynn climbs on the chair to make sure she isn't hallucinating. Then she runs over to the other bookshelf... "Oh no! Watch a movie! Oh no!" It was so funny. And you know what, I didn't and still don't feel bad. She still asks for movies, but not nearly as often, and when I tell her no she stops asking instead of asking continually and then taking things into her own hands when I don't give in. And I've also saved myself some money since I hope no more DVD's will be broken by my technology savey daughter.

Out-smarted

I consider myself an intelligent person; and I take pride (probably unrighteously) in the fact that few can match my wit. That being said, I am often surprised at how often I am outfoxed by a little girl that is 2 years, 5 months and 18 days old. To illustrate:

Evelynn has just learned and is perfecting her self-propelled swinging technique. (In my family we always called the motion used to propel one's self in a swing as, pumping). Last night Evelynn was doing particularly well at this new-found skill; I decided to compliment her.

"Good job swinging honey," I said in my best encouraging-dad voice.

"Thanks mom," she replied. Now, Evelynn often calls me mom. This doesn't bother me because Geneen is obviously the parent that she spends the most time with. However, whenever this happens I like to remind her that I, in fact, am not her mom but her dad.

"I'm dad," I replied.

"Thanks dad," she amended. Evelynn continued to swing and shortly Geneen came out of the house to join us. I relayed the aforementioned conversation pointing out that I thought it was rather remarkable that Evelynn knew that she should say thank you after receiving a compliment.

"We sure have a smart little girl," I informed my wife.

"Yep," Evelynn quipped

"And she's a little bit conceited," I teased in a very positive, complimentary tone. (The tone is important.)

"Yeah," came Evelynn's emphatic reply. Thinking that Evelynn was just responding to my positive, complimentary tone. I asked her the following question in a very positive, upbeat and happy tone.

"Are you just responding to the tone of daddy's voice?"

"Nope," she answered sounding absolutely sure of it.

I thought I was the smart one.

My Morning Run Route

So this is cool. I found how to upload a map of my run onto my blog! So friends and family, this is what I run every Monday, Wednsday, and Friday with Amelia. We're getting faster, but so far it takes us anout 42 minutes to complete the run. Not too shabby. :)

New Fence, Face Painting, and Walking in My Boots

We just got a new fence in to enclose our backyard, and it has been so nice. These pictures are mostly for my family to see the work that was done since they left before it was installed. As of now, Evelynn has not figured out how to open the gate, but it may be soon if I am not careful. I always try to screen what I am doing with my body when we go out and she persistently tries to stick her head around me to watch, and if she watches more than 3 times I'm sure she'll figure it out. Yes, she is that smart, I'm not just bragging.

Here's the side yard. When installing the fence they accidentally cut the power lines for the sprinkler system, so that's why our lawn is dead looking. We just recently fixed it.

The gate.

The privacy fence along the side yard that borders the neighbors yard. This is where we pulled out the hedge with our neighbors truck. That was a headache! But if you ever have to pull out a hedge, use a truck!

The neighbors came over yesterday to play and they discovered that sidewalk chalk soaked in water becomes a lot like paint. Kate (the oldest) decided to put on a fair with rides in the stroller and face paints. Evelynn was a very willing subject.

The finished product. The Blue Man Group has nothing on my kid.

Doug has a pair of boots given to him by his Grandpa Jacobson. Evelynn found them in the closet and thought they were pretty cool.

Most of my daughters activities during the day involve having her pants off. I don't know why...she must take after her dad.

Other funny photos and videos.

These are just a few photos and videos I've been collecting. They don't really apply to anything in particular.

On our way to the pool!

Mommy comforting my sick baby. She had a fever and would just lay on my chest. Pretty pathetic yet cute.

Ha ha! Pony tail! And she kept it in for a record 1 hour!

Jesse was playing with Evelynn and she wanted to be warpped up like a baby so he sausage rolled her up in this blanket. She was pretty content to just stay that way.

Eventually she asked to be put to bed (just like Eloise) so we put her in Lori's bed. It was so funny.

4th of July

This year for the 4th of July, Lori and I along with my friend from church Amelia did the 5K run that Provo hosts every year. It was something I had been training for since April so I was kind of excited to do it. Needless to say, it was very hard. The last 1/2 mile is uphill to the finish line, and by then I was wiped out. Amelia was a lifesaver because she was the only thing that kept me going instead of stopping to puke and then walk the rest of the way. But we did it! My time was 31:07 which means I ran about a 10 minute mile. The first mile of the race is completely flat, and so I was just running at Amelia's pace. I was getting pretty winded (more than usual on my first mile) so I looked at my watch at the mile marker and it said 8:40! I think that was my fastest mile time since high school when I ran track. It was crazy. Because of that I sort of burned myself out for the hill on the third mile so it was a lot harder than it should of been, and I went really slow. But we made it.

After the race we watched the parade. Evelynn loved it, but was scared of the sirens when the firetrucks and ambulances went by. She sat on Daddy's lap because Mommy's legs felt like they were going to fall off after the race :). It's amazing how much more fun things become when you view them through the eyes of your children again. Doug and I were ready to quit the parade after an hour of it, but Evelynn was so entranced that we ended up staying another hour until it was finished. Provo has a stinking long parade, too long if you ask me.

After naps and a battle to clean out and defrost the fridge/freezer, we headed up to Kaysville to have a BBQ with my Aunt Tracy and then watch the Kaysville fireworks. It's kind of nice because we could sit in her front yard and watch them go off a few blocks away. Evelynn was entranced. She's been asking for days if we can go see more fireworks. Oh how I wish we could too because I am a pyro at heart. I remember as a kid that the 4th was always awesome not only because we got to see fireworks but because we got to buy them, and the biggest buyer of them all way my Dad. He turned into a little kid at a candy store when it came to fireworks, and the piece de resistance was always the huge roll of firecrackers that we would light off at the very end. Doug thinks I'm silly for loving fireworks so much, but if you had grown up with my Dad, you would be crazy about them too. Unfortunately, Utah has a ban on most of the cool fireworks and only really sells fountains, which are ok, but there is so much more! Ah well.

Here's the pictures for you're enjoyment.

Evelynn watching the parade go by.

Eloise being held by neighbor Stacey. She thought the parade was pretty neat too.

Eloise in her 4th of July outfit.

Family photo. Sorry to Doug who got his head cut off and Eloise who is being strangled.

Beau the dog. This Dog is perfect for Evelynn because he doesn't care if you climb on him. He is the sweetest thing, and Evelynn loves him.

She was giving him kisses.

And the camera kisses.

Eating dinner.

My camera doesn't have a fireworks setting, but I thought this turned out kind of cool.

I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus

Parenting a two-year-old at times is quite exhausting. The more I do it the more I realize why these times are referred to as the "Terrible Two's." I don't think that is a description of the child as much as it is a description of your feelings toward yourself.

As Geneen has all ready pointed out Evelynn can be at times a very taxing child. She can be defiant, obnoxious, boundary-pushing, and a whole host of other delicately chosen adjectives. That being said there is a huge side of Evelynn that is sweet, wholesome and just darn entertaining.

I remember one time while putting Evelynn to bed she had trouble staying in her room let alone in her bed. She kept coming out with a different excuse. First an owie, than she had to go potty, then she wanted to say prayers again - on and on. Finally Geneen put her in time out. Evelynn went to her corner, sat down and promptly started singing the primary song, "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus." Listening to her sing that song in her little voice it was impossible to stay mad at her.

We must be doing something right, just yesterday Evelynn put her bear in time out. She sat it in the corner and said, "Sit down!" over and over. Followed with, "You stay!"

"Do I really sound like that?" my head asked my brain. "Yes, yes you do," came the sure reply.

Everything turned out for the best though, when she came and made her bear apologize to me. I'm not even sure what he had done wrong.

The other day she sat down on the toilet. "Do you have to go potty?" queried Geneen.

"Yes," came Evelynn's reply, "I want some gum." (Her typical go-potty reward.)

From her made up songs and dances, to her yelling and screaming fits; life with Evelynn is up and down - in and out - loud and --well okay, it's NEVER quiet. But there's nothing as sweet as seeing her lying in her bed asleep, or having her come up and give you a kiss and say, "I love you dad." It makes all of it worth it, you start to think:

"Maybe I'm doing something right; maybe I am a good father, someone she'll be proud of."
And then as soon as you think all of that she follows up her kiss with a smack in the face.

"Get back to reality dad, you and I have a long way to go!"

I can't wait for the rest of the ride.

Playing Dress Up

More antics of Evelynn: The Dress Up Phase

Evelynn loves to play dress up. In fact, it's not just a past time, it seems to have become a necessity/obsession with her. There are currently 3 outfits on my floor that she has worn today, and only one of them consists of her own clothing. One outfit is from a shirt my sister Lizzy left here when they visited, and the other is from an old tank top of mine. But she is currently asleep in one of my sister Lori's shirts. Apparently, anything that is long on her and not part of he clothing is "pretty" and needs to be worn the instant she sees it. Yesterday she found my maternity swimsuit and came out of my room with the bottoms wrapped around her shoulders and through one leg, insisting that I help her fix it because it was "pretty." She has even gotten to the point that Lori will come home and if she is wearing something that Evelynn has taken a fancy to she will pull on the article of clothing until it comes off or is taken off by Lori so she can wear it. As you might imagine, this has lead to some funny situation, especially with the dresses and skirts that Lori wears on Sunday. It's a miracle that she hasn't flashed someone yet. On top of this, Evelynn is still inconsistent about wearing underwear. She is in the process of potty training, and sometimes it just makes things easier to leave the underwear off, but then of course I forget, we go outside, and situations with the neighbor kids arise that turn out pretty funny. For example: we were outside and Evelynn had on one of her dresses but no underwear. She went to talk to the neighbor kids ages 5 and 3 over the fence and just happened to lift up her dress enough for the kids to see she was going commando. All of a sudden I hear shrieks and "She's naked! She's showing us her nudies!" Evelynn thought it was a hoot and so she tried to completely disrobe, but luckily she is not skilled enough to take off all of her clothes by herself. Sometime soon I hope she'll be able to understand and then we'll have to have a talk about staying clothed outside. Until then, look out for a 3 foot blonde nudist and make sure you aren't wearing any clothes she finds "pretty" or we may all be flashing people unexpectedly.

In other news, Eloise has found that her feet and mommy's hands taste delicious, and so she seems to have one of them in her mouth as often as she is able. But when it comes to my hands, she bites. Now for someone who has no teeth you wouldn't think it would hurt that bad, but I'm pretty sure I would bruise if I wasn't paying attention. Her new nickname is "my little cannibal."

Antics of Evelynn

For anyone who knows my oldest daughter Evelynn, you'll know she is a busy, busy, busy girl. I always sort of knew this in the back of my mind, and I surely knew in the front of my mind how hard it was/is to keep her contained in certain situations. But as time has gone on and more and more people have commented to me that she is "so curious" and "into everything" and "just a very busy girl," I've started to wonder. Is that their tactful way of saying, "You're daughter is a walking tornado"? Our nickname for her in the house in Turbo Tax. However many ways you want to read into that will probably be correct. So I got to thinking the other day that maybe all children are not like my daughter. Maybe Eloise will be more mild, calm, and disposed to sitting still. Of course, right after I thought these things I saw Eloise spinning circles on her play mat. It's probably more likely that I have just spawned extremely exuberant children. It doesn't help matters much that I also seem to spawn very large and tall children which gives them the ability to get into more things at an earlier age.

Other funny facts about my daughter are that she loves people, but she is definitely scared of the males in her extended family. For example, Uncle Jesse (my brother) who lives in my basement and has for almost her entire life scares the living daylights out of her. She will be walking down the steps and see Jesse come out of his room and run screaming and crying back up the steps to me in absolute terror! I cannot figure this out. Jesse is a very nice uncle who gives her candies and swings her around until she is dizzy (which she loves) and never disciplines her. Another family figure she is terrified of is Uncle Dale (Doug's uncle). She actually loves to talk about "Unca Dale" and even sings him happy birthday when she is in our house and asks to go see him and Dallin all week long. I mean, he rivals nursery sometimes! But as soon as we reach their house, she hides behind my legs, won't even look at him, and cries if he gets too close. I just don't understand. But it is great to discipline when Uncle Dale is around. All I have to do is say "Do I have to give you to Uncle Dale?" and I get instant obedience (which is how I found out that she isn't really hard of hearing, she just doesn't listen to me). It's also great because I put her in timeout and she is as meek as a mouse while Uncle Dale is in the room. I wish we had a life size cutout of him at home. It would make my life easier.