Keeping Cool?

I know I've already ranted about the heat yesterday, but I thought a couple of pictures to go with it wouldn't hurt. (o: We went over to Grandma Deone's house on Friday. It wasn't as hot as Sat. and Sun, but it was pretty close. The boys had lots of fun playing in the backyard, but I was worried about them being in the sun (our children are so white that they could spontaneously combust very easily if not careful), so I built them this little "tent". They had a good time in it and I think it did help a little.
Connor was playing a keyboard and Spencer was listening.

Grandma was also concerned about the heat, so she dug out this little number for Joseph to wear. (we think it was uncle Jeff's??) Joseph wasn't too thrilled cause it was so big, but to be nice he told his grandma that he would be happy to wear it in a couple of years when he is bigger.

Spencer decided to brave the sun and do some building.

I think the sun was in his eyes for this picture.

You can see the sweaty hair under the hat. I think the hat came off not long after this was taken.

Look at this poor childs red face! We pumped these kids full of water. Connor wanted to take his shirt off, but remember the combustion thing? He played in the tent instead.

Heat Schmeet

It is 7:24pm right now and it is 89 degrees outside and 85 in our apartment! We are all sweating like a bunch of little piggies. Wait, do pigs sweat? I wish I had a mud pit right about now. It is not a good thing to bring heat upon the poor people of Seattle. It's just not nice. At the beginning of this month it was a high of 51. Now it's 90. It is making me very sad and feeling a strong desire for the rain that I love so well. You don't ever hear me complain about the Seattle weather until it gets hot. Luckily it's supposed to get to 72 by Friday. I hope they are right.

I know that all you folks that live in the south or the desert, or Utah think I'm a whimp. You are very correct about that. BUT~how many of you have air conditioning? We don't! We have a fan. A little fan. It's cute, but not very helpful.

Anyways, that is my complaining for the day. Actually, I don't complain all that darn much on this blog. I was due. (o: I just want it to be nice and cool again. Did I mention that I miss my rainy days? Well, I do. (don't tell Joseph~he's thrilled with all this heat) He's not really our child. He can't be. Travis hates the heat as much as I do. I wonder where he got that gene.

Nice Weather!

We are finally getting some really nice weather here in the Seattle area. I personally haven't been complaining too loudly cause I really hate the heat and I know that it will show up soon enough. I've been watching all these poor people in the East cooking at 100+ and we have been in the 50s and 60s. It's now in the upper 70s and is supposed to be in the 80s this weekend. Tuesday it was in the low 70s with a slight breeze so the boys and I went for a walk down in the valley of Kent. Here are a couple of pictures of my little men.

Connor's Concert

Connor is our musical child in the family. When I was pregnant with him I was the Sacrament Meeting chorister. I would stand in front of the organ and as soon as the music would start, he would start squirming around. I knew then he would be a music lover. I was right.

He was singing in the bathroom this morning. I grabbed the camera and had him sing for me. Like a moron, I tipped the camera for the first one. So, I had him re-sing "I Love to See the Temple" so that it's right side up. I'll include both cause they are so cute. This is his newest favorite song. They are learning it in Primary right now.

Then he sang his other two favorite songs. "Reverently, Quietly" and "So This is Love". I started singing "So This is Love" to him when he was first born. I've sung it, along with the other songs he sings, every night before he goes to bed.

Funny Boys

Here are a couple of pictures that just made me smile. The first one is what happens every afternoon when "Curious George" comes on PBS. The boys are mesmerized by that show. They love it! Doesn't matter how many times they have seen it, they love watching them. Sorry it's kind of dark and grainy. I wanted to get the photo in the moment, so I snapped it from the kitchen, zooming as far as I could.

The other two are Connor tonight. I cracked open a can of pineapple. (like catnip to a cat) All three boys were in the kitchen with forks. Connor came in wearing Joseph's bike helmet though. It was cute just like that, but then when he went and sat down with his pineapple and the helmet I couldn't resist a photo or two. (o:

I love Nerds!

I've always been a sucker for kinda nerdy guys. My husband is a brilliant man. Very good brains. (o: I found this clip of one of my very favorite comedies, The Big Bang Theory. I love these guys! Plus, I thought it was funny because I'm the one that puts together all our furniture and entertainment centers, desks etc at our house. Not that Travis is not capable, but I really enjoy doing it and I have a tad more patience for it.

Who's Old?

Yesterday, Travis's parents came over and we had a little bbq in honor of Father's Day. Travis has to work Sunday night, so we just celebrated early. We were watching one of our family's very favorite movies, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!". We were at the beginning part, where Jimmy Durante "kicks the bucket", and a little conversation went on like this.

Joseph:"Opes, that guy's gonna kick that bucket and die cause he was driving too crazy."

Spencer:"Yep, that's right. But mostly only old people die cause they are so old."

Joseph:"Yah, old people like 50 or maybe even 40!"

Mommy and Daddy:(laughing)"40! Do you know Daddy is getting close to 40? Do you think Daddy is old? What about Grandpa and Grandma? They are older than us. How old do you think they are?"

Spencer:"Probably...ummm...100?"

Grandma:"100? Both of us? Grandpa's older than me. He's 78~that's almost 80! So how old do you think I am?"

Joseph:"Umm, 65."

Grandma:"Oh wow, that's a great guess. Yep, that's how old I am." (with a wink and a smile since she's 71)

I just thought it was such a funny conversation. The boys views on things like age, plus, being the homeschool mom that I am, I enjoyed using the opportunity to trick Joseph into doing a little math and number thinking.

Don't ya just love kids? What would I do without them?!!!

Primary Temple Trip

Saturday the kids went to our Ward Primary Activity. The theme for the month is Temples, so we went on a Temple trip. The original plan was to go to the park behind the Temple and have a picnic lunch, but since it hasn't gotten up to 60 degrees in two weeks here, and it's been raining like it's November, we had our picnic in the Primary room at the church before we went. The kids had a lot of fun. Travis had the weekend off, so he was able to come as well. They got to actually go inside of the Temple to the little waiting room in the front. The Matron came and spoke to them and then we did some pictures. It was a very good experience for the boys. I'm grateful we live so close to a Temple.

Here we are having our picnic on the floor. The boys thought it was cool getting to eat in the church.

When we got to the Temple, Spencer got out of the car and slipped in a HUGE mud puddle. Got filthy! So, I brushed his backside off best I could and then put a jacket on him to cover up all the mud on the back of his shirt.

Here they are waiting for pictures.

Here is the group. I would say that is about 2/3 of our Primary. Aren't they all so cute!

Our family. I have a better one, but accidentally uploaded this one. The other isn't so slanty and Spencer's face is showing. I'll get to that soon.

Here we all gathered by the trees to take class pictures. There is a tree they call the Primary Tree that some primary children planted a few years ago, so we had to go visit it. Then they put pictures of the Temple that the kids all colored on the windshields of the cars in the parking lot. Fun times!

The Many Faces of Spencer

Tonight Spencer said, "I think you should take a picture of me." I told him that his hair was pretty messy and he needed a haircut, shouldn't we take pictures after we cut his hair. He responded with, "No, I want to have funny pictures of me." He then proceeded to mess his hair even more. He's such a goofy kid! Here are the pictures that we took. Enjoy!

Military Men

Now that David is home (yay!!!), I will mention him. (o: Here is a picture I stole from Jamie of my dad and two brothers. Don't ya just love a man in uniform? That's one of the things that caught my eye about Travis. First time I really noticed him he had just gotten home from monthly drills. Still in his cami's looking all hot! (o: Please notice that Nate and David are in the Air Force and Dad is Army, but their uniforms look so similar. Don't know why but I think that's kinda cool.

I'm so proud of the men in my life. My dad and brothers for serving, my husband for serving, and his dad, who served in the Korean war! (ya, he's kinda old) (o; Actually, Travis's brother even served in the Reserves if my memory serves me. (Olivia, if you are reading this, ask your dad about it.) This is the greatest country on the planet. I'm so lucky to live here and now. We try very hard to instill this pride and love in our boys. (Oh ya, and Travis's Grandpa was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge too) So, if you ever meet a soldier or a veteran, do like what we like to do and thank them. Thank them for helping us have our freedoms. Thank them for being willing to give their lives for us and our nation. Just thank 'em.

THANK YOU!!

(I will now put my soapbox back under my bed for a while)