Funny Parenting Moments

Sometimes I can't help but laugh at little parenting moments. I honestly think that as a parent you have to have a sense of humor, and laugh at things that happen, or you will go completely crazy! The other day Rett and I couldn't stop laughing. Sometimes I think we're mean, and then I realize that it's ok to have a little laugh at your kiddos. Drake and Crew have both done this before. But we finally caught it on video. We were driving home from Grandpa Kip's house the other night. It was around bedtime, but the boys had some gum from Grandpa's house. They were sleepy. And this is hilarious to me! This video is of Drake. He is totally asleep, but is still chomping away on his gum! And of course you can hear Rett and I giggling in the background. And I had to hurry and turn off the video because Drake started to wake up and I didn't want him to think we were being mean and cause a problem. Oh the joy of parenting! These little moments make my day! So funny!

Grandma Shoemaker

My Great Grandma Shoemaker (Elizabeth Louise Davis Shoemaker, 18 April 1917 - 19 February 2013) was a beautiful, strong, hardworking, and independent woman. I was blessed to be able to have her around for so long during my life. She was very independent until recently in her life, when she moved in with my Grandpa and Grandma Stark. I was never able to spend a great deal of intimate time with Grandma Shoemaker, but I know that those who did were blessed by her smile and the time they spent with her. Here are some of the memories I have of Grandma Shoemaker. When we visited Grandma's house as kids, I remember clocks on her living room walls. There were so many of them. There were so many different kinds. And they were not always set at the same time, so ticks, dings, chimes, etc. went off at all different times. But I thought, as a child, it was amazing that she had so many clocks. Another thing I remember about Grandma was her crocheting. She was always crocheting something. And every time we went to visit she gave us a pair of crocheted slippers. At my house, when we watch a movie or hang out on the couch, everyone likes to have a blanket to wrap up in. Rett is known to love sheets and blankets that are very old, soft, and comfy. The blanket my Great Grandma Shoemaker made for me when I was a little girl is the house favorite. And the best part is, that all three of my rough and tough boys, fight over the PINK blanket! It's the coveted blanket around the house. They love it. I love it too. Spilled nail polish and all! It says "Jennifer's Pets" across the top, and then has nine different animals on it. I remember as kids, we all had a special blanket from Grandma. This past year or longer I worked on a family recipe book. It had wonderful recipes from our family. I was so grateful to get to know the wonderful women in my family a little better by some of their cherished recipes. We had a service for Grandma on Saturday, March 2nd, at the Sierra View Cemetery in Olivehurst, California. We made a quick trip of it. We drove Friday, and stayed in Sacramento, attended the service Saturday, and spent Sunday driving back home. After the graveside service we went to Grandma Shoemaker's house for food and visiting. It was so fun to be able to see so much of my moms family. At Grandma's graveside service I learned something else about her. I learned that she was a pioneer of recycling. That was an interesting and neat little tidbit. And I know I should be better at this. So I'm going to take Grandma's example and work on my recycling. Another story that I loved was that Grandma got her first job, and Grandpa wasn't so sure she should be working. After she got her first pay check, she bought him some tools, and he thought the job wasn't such a bad idea after that!

Grandma Shoemaker

Grandpa & Grandma Shoemaker with children Dorothy, Francis, and Edna

Grandma Shoemaker and the Theresa Wheeler Sexton Family

Jennifer's Pets Blanket made by Grandma Shoemaker

Grandma Shoemaker's Raw Apple Cake Recipe

I "MUSTACHE" you a question!

For Valentines this year I wanted to take pictures of the boys with mustaches and send out Valentines Cards to Grandpas, Grandmas, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. The boys hated the idea. They thought it was super weird. I got out movies like Quigley Down Under to show them that cowboys have mustaches. They still thought it was a little crazy. And they didn't love the pictures with them. I think they turned out super cute! And I especially love their crazy face pictures! Needless to say, I got them done, but they were sent out a little late. 

But we do want our family and friends to know how much we love and appreciate them. We are so blessed to have so many great people in our lives who help us raise our children, who support us in our endeavors, and who make life a joy. We couldn't ask for happier boys, and that is thanks to so many great people in our lives.

Couple Time

Rett had Monday off this week but randomly the boys still had school on MLK. So I begged a friend to watch the boys before and after school and Rett and I headed up to the slopes. It was a lot of fun. Rett's way better than I am. So he took it slow for me and taught me a few things. It was a fun day date. I love alone time with Rett because it reminds me of how much fun we have together. We still have fun with the boys however at some point during the running kids around, cleaning house, making dinner, work, and all the other routine stuff you tend to forget to just enjoy. I'm always grateful to be reminded of the love we share. And the other bonus was that it was beautiful, clear, sunny, and warm!

Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy visited our house for the very first time last week! On Thursday while we were eating dinner Crew said his loose tooth was making it hard to eat. I wiggled it a little and thought it probably had a few more days. He walked into the bathroom and I figured he was just going to look at it in the mirror. He walked out a minute later and said "I pulled it out". He was so calm! I couldn't believe he just pulled it out himself! He said it was making it too hard to eat! So cute! And I can't believe our little Crew is already big enough to be losing teeth!

Snow Fun

We had a super cold spell. It's been down to -16 °F. That's cold! We've had to find fun things to do to pass the time. We got lift passes to Beaver Mountain in Logan. We went for the first time last Saturday and then again today. It was lots of fun. We stayed on the magic carpet or bunny hill most of the first day. Rett and I made runs up the mountain and lived to tell about it. Actually we did great for not going in over ten years. I had a little mishap getting off the lift but I didn't hurt myself. Crew's doing great. He thinks he knows it all, doesn't want our our help and wants to go alone. We didn't let him go up anything else the first day but once he figured out how to slow himself down better we took him up. He did great. Drake is a little more cautious so isn't quite ready for anything else but he's learning. It's so fun for the family. We'll have two little shredders before the end of the season.

 And this is what the boys like to do in our field behind the house. They like sledding behind the four wheeler even in the bitter cold!

Snowboarding

Last spring, we decided to purchase season passes to Beaver Mountain Ski Resort in Logan. The winters up here can be a little long and cold. And Rett was missing his old time spent on the slopes. And, since we bought them so early, they were a lot less cheap. And bonus, kids under 5 are free with season pass holders. So we figured we'd see how the kids did. We looked all summer, and finally got two tiny snowboards, bindings, and boots off of KSL (A local Craigslist). After our trip to get the Christmas Tree, I was really worried about the boys freezing to death! So Christmas Eve, when we went up to Grandpa Kip's house in Lava, we took the snowboards to try it out. He has the best driveway every for sledding, and we have loved that through the years. But turns out it is great for snowboarding too! And we used a four wheeler to give rides back to the top, which made it so much easier! It only took a few runs before Crew had it all figured out! And by the end of the couple of hours he was going all the way down the driveway without falling. Drake is getting so close to figuring out how to steer and once he gets that, he'll be keeping up with his big brother. They absolutely loved it! They didn't complain about being cold at all! And they did not want to stop. In fact, we learned that our boys do not give up. Drake was so mad when it was getting dark and we told him he had to go inside. We haven't gone up to Beaver yet, and frankly, I'm scared for Rett and I. I haven't been for 12 years, and wasn't that good to begin with. It's been a while for Rett too, but at least he was really good back in the day! We'll see if we can get through the season without injuring ourselves too bad!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. Full of family, friends, and neighbors. We made tons of goodies and delivered 50 goody plates! Crew and Drake did a great job of running them to the doors while I stayed in my heated car! They were good sports. We made a quick trip to Utah. And we spent Christmas day playing with new toys and being lazy around the house. It was nice. We did actually leave the house once, to go visit a neighbor, but we were still in our jammies. It was just nice to let the kids relax and do whatever they wanted. This year we opened a Christmas book every night in December. It was fun to be surprised and then get to read a story as a family. We got to Skype with family we didn't get to see. It makes me so grateful for technology! I love this time of year because we remember to tell people we love and care about how much they mean to us! And we hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas!

This is Crew's part in the Christmas Program at his school. He did a good job with his little reindeer antlers! 

Christmas Morning Presents.

Playing with some of the new presents!

Visit with Santa! Drake looked like he was going to start crying any minute!

This is getting our Christmas Tree this year. It was a funny story. We drove way up in the mountains. And then spotted a tree only 50 yards from the truck. The boys were already crying about being cold on the super short, closest to the truck tree we will ever find! It made me wonder what we were thinking investing in snowboards for the boys when they couldn't even last 10 minutes. But that story will be continued tomorrow. Needless to say, we ended up with a super cute and almost perfect Christmas Tree. I would bet it's the nicest one we have cut yet!

My Mom and Papa Kurt sent us a great Christmas package. It included these hats that the antlers move and light up and sings "Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer". This is Drake doing a silly dance in the hate. He is so funny! Makes me giggle all the time! Guess how much Rett likes the noisy hats!

We spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday in Utah. We got to visit Grandma Teresa (Rett's Mom), Ron, TJ, Megan, Seth, Jess, Grandma Cook, Tiff, Brian, Maggie, Sam, Gabe, Michael, Josh, and Jolene. It was way too short, but lot's of fun to see everyone. Saturday we ran some last minute shopping errands, and Saturday evening had dinner with the family at TJ and Megan's. Then Teresa and I got to go watch the Nutcracker, while Megan played her violin in the orchestra. It was a lot of fun and beautifully done, both the ballet and the orchestra! The boys all hung out together while we were there. Sunday morning we had breakfast at Tiffiny and Brian's. And the cousins got to do some great playing. The trip was much too short, and I wish we had more time with everyone, but it was so great to see them all!

Christmas Eve we went to Grandpa Kip and Debbie's for dinner, gifts, and snow fun. It was great. I will post pictures from the snow tomorrow. We got to hang out with Debbie's daughter Summer and her family. They have super cute and fun kids. And TJ and Megan made the trip up too. It was tons of good food and lot's of fun to be with everyone. 

Puppy Sitting

We love puppies. This is Cruse. Before you start thinking we have enough dogs or why would you name your dog that when your kids name is Crew...He's not ours. We're socializing him for Mark and Gail. And he's a fun little guy.

Drake's Pledge of Allegiance

I know that the preschool says the pledge but I had no idea Drake could say it all by himself. So cute!