Soldier Henry

May 26, 2015

Memorial Day weekend Henry discovered war movies.  It started with Patton and Gettysburg.  He WATCHED Gettysburg.  This morning he was watching and re watching Tora! Tora! Tora! when he decided what else he could find.  He picked a black and white John Wayne movie called In Harms Way.  He said he picked it because it had lots of battles, which it does, but really he was paying full attention to the whole thing!  He told me all about how "That grirl (girl) had fun at the dance but the other grirls didn't."

Oh that boy! I love him! I'm glad he's gaining an appreciation for black and whites!

Memorial Day weekend we went out to Camp Floyd for the Civil War demonstrations and activities. Henry got to dress up like a Union and Confederate soldier (at the same time!) and do some training. He's quite the Civil War soldier now!

In the mean time, Clara explored this tent they had set up. She quite enjoyed running in and out. Little Clara heaven!

Preschool!

A Year of Preschool

Henry was lucky this year and got to go to Oakview Preschool with Teacher Marilyn. She was great! Henry loves her and she did a great job helping Henry get ready for Kindergarten. Preschool has been over for more than a month and Henry is still sad that she is not following him to Kindergarten.

The Fire Station

One chilly day in the fall, we met at the Salem fire station for a tour of the station and all of the trucks. As you can see, there were a few kids really into the fireman theme of the day and came dressed appropriately.  Henry may have been one of them. The kids were so excited to learn about all of the trucks and to see real firemen in their real fire station.

The Bakery

In February we took a trip to a bakery in Spanish Fork. There was not enough room for all of the adults to follow the kids into the actual bakery, but Henry said he got to see giant machines, a huge freezer, and a big oven. After the tour of the kitchen, they had lunch for each of the kids and a cookie to decorate. Henry loved seeing the machines!

Farm Field Trip

In May we went on a field trip to this great little farm in Springville. This really old but really nice farmer man very patiently showed all of the kids around his amazing little farm. He had several kinds of rare birds, kangaroos, alpacas, lamas, goats, one goat that was born with three legs, rabbits, all kinds of chickens, a giant horse sized friendly dog, and a brand new goat that we all got to pet! It was so much fun!

Preschool Graduation Day

Graduation was adorable! You can tell the kids worked so hard on a performance for the special day. Henry is standing SO CLOSE to two of his best preschool friends (and the one in the truck shirt lives across the street from us and is one of his best friends, period). They were all working so hard to focus on their dances!

Teacher Marilyn was great! Henry looks so thrilled, but he loved having her as a teacher!

After graduation, the kids got to play one last time.

Fishing Day

May 16, 2015

Henry has been dying to fish for a while! We finally picked a day and went fishing. It was just a practice run (aka we didn't catch anything), but we had fun. Clara did not understand why she couldn't just plunge into the lake. Between Nate and I, we spent the entire time keeping her out of the water. After a while we decided to pack up and call it a day. It was a little hike back to the car and we left JUST IN TIME because we weren't in the car 2 minutes before it started pouring. Just as the downpour started, we did get to see a skunk scurrying for cover. We'll have to go fishing again now that we have a little more practice in.

Cousin Sleepover

April 30, 2015

Rubye is moving far away at the end of the summer. For now she is just moving to Idaho, but it might as well be far away. While her Mama and Daddy were getting their house all cleaned out, Rubye came home with us to spend the night. What a fun cousin sleepover!  

Easter

April 5, 2015

The Easter Bunny should have brought the Winnie the Pooh movie this year, because it was a very blustery day! Clara and Henry enjoyed hunting all of the eggs the Easter Bunny brought. 

Instacare for Clara

March 24, 2015

We had a slight mishap involving a kitchen aide attachment falling from the top shelf of the pantry that resulted in a quick trip to Insta Care for a yet to be seen (probably $200+) band aid.  Better than regretting not getting it taken care of properly in 20 years.  (It was a face/head injury.)  This fun trip resulted in some numbing agent, a steri-stri, and some cute pictures.  Mostly Clara selfies.  What a happy injured baby!

Happy Birthday Clara!

March 6, 2015

Height: 28.5 in

Weight: 18.96 lbs

Head: 19 in

I cannot believe you are 1!  We had your birthday party the Friday before so that everyone could be there, including your Aunt Janae that left for her mission 2 days before your birthday.  You ate your cake like "This is no big deal.  I do this all the time."  You enjoyed playing with Henry and Rubye.  After presents, they played a round of Candyland and you moved your piece around the board and the box like you were playing right along with them.

For your real birthday, we went to the Aquarium.  You loved the shark tank and the tank of turtles.  You had fun looking for the fish and up close to a swimming penguin.  We got home too late to have your birthday dinner, so we did that Sunday and opened up the presents from us and Henry.  Henry got you a mailbox so that he could send you letters.

At one year old, you are still sweet as ever.  You are walking like a pro.  You eat all kinds of big kid food, but your favorites are mac and cheese, cheese, cheese toast, baby cheese puff snacks as well as peaches and bananas.  You might have a thing for cheese.

You still love to be outside.  If you see an opportunity to get out, you go for it!  You then get terribly disappointed when you do not make it before the door is closed.  It is still not quite warm enough most days to let you play outside but I think you will enjoy summer.

It sounds like you are closer to talking.  You are making more distinct sounds, but they are not words yet.  I think you have a few words that you use for a few different things.  "Mama" means Mama, but in the right tone, it is really more like "I need something!  Fix it!".  "Ba" (long a) is bath.  That is about it, but you are SO CLOSE to having a good sized vocabulary.

 

You have the cutest little wave that means hi, bye, and come to me/I'm coming.  I love seeing you wave!

You could not be more loved by everyone around you but especially your Mama, Daddy, and Henry.  Henry loves you so much and is so protective.  In true big brother fashion, he may find it fun to pretend you are as big as he and initiate a wrestling match on occasion, but when it comes down to it, he might destroy anyone that tried to hurt you.  We are so glad to have you!  Happy Birthday Baby Clara!