Strawberries and Art

We had a great day! Stevie and Lilly have to be the cutest kids alive...ok I'm a little bias. But, in my defense, what mother isn't.

We painted and ate strawberries today.



Lilly attacked the strawberry like it was going out of style. She had this determined look on her face and no one was going to take that strawberry from her. It was the cutest thing. I can't wait to see how the video of this comes out.

This is what she looked like after the strawberry had been pulverized. She even had strawberry behind her ears and in her eye lashes.

And while Lilly was demolishing her fruit, Stevie was painting. When we started out, I thought he was painting his paper...but as it turned out, I should have been paying more attention to the painter than the strawberry girl. I think there was a little paint on the paper but we would have to look closely to see it!

Stevie thought it would be funny to attack his mother with his painted hands and so I took this picture, dropped the camera...ok get real...this is an expensive camera...so I carefully set it on the desk, and ran for it... he only got a little paint on my shorts!

Needless to say, we took a bath after this event.

Lilly's First Real Bath

This is always a monumental occasion when the baby can sit up in the bath tub. It means no more getting in he tub with the child, or bathing in the little plastic tub, or attempting to get them clean in the sink. This was Lilly's first official tub experience. She still needs quite a bit of help and only swallowed bath water once. (that's better than Stevie who tipped over twice.) She had a ball with Stevie in the tub. Didn't even complain when Stevie dumped water over her head...in fact she laughed. I can't wait till she can sit up on her own...on the other hand they grow up too fast and I wish she would stay little.

The joys of mother-hood!

CONVENTION!!!

I'm here in Denver!! I made it!!! And I'm having a great time. I'm learning lots of new things and I think I'm going to attempt something I swore I would never do and that is host a workshop. I can't wait to show my friends some of these new techniques I'm learning.

It is great to see all of my friends from Savannah...I have to say it would be better if a certain R.W. were here but we are having a good time anyway.

I'm missing the heck out of Stevie and I love when he calls. He is so cute and trying his best to get Nana wrapped around his finger. Stay strong Nana!! Lilly is having a ball with Nana Karen and I'm now worshiping Nana Karen for helping me out this week. I know I wouldn't be having as much fun if I had Lilly on my lap all the time. Not that she isn't perfect...she is just into touching and putting everything in her mouth. Not a good thing when we are working with scissors, punches, and ink. (that paints an ugly picture!)

I also have to say thank you to Nana Sue for keeping my very active, hyper son and I appreciate her keeping up with him.

Anyway, I will post some very fun pictures soon!

What a Day!

This was quite a day. In the morning Stevie and Lilly worked on a project to send to their dad. It is a cool page filled with letters, pictures, and words Stevie cut out and pasted on a page. We are going to send it to dad soon!

Here is Lilly helping out!

Ok these pictures are out of order from our day but I'm too tired to fix it. So I will just tell the story as the pictures come up.

After naps, we went to our good friend's, Brenden, Wendy and Kirk's house for Brenden's 3rd b-day. It was a wonderful party. Wendy went all out with a pirate theme and it was awesome. The kids played outside in the pools and in the yard and had a blast.

Here is Stevie enjoying some cake. This was the coolest cake ever. It was in the shape of a pirate ship...equipped with sails, masts, crow's nest, and even pirates. Too cute! Stevie insisted on a "front of the boat piece of chocolate cake" and enjoyed the frosting. I don't think he actually tasted the cake part.

After cake Brenden opened gifts and Stevie had a very hard time watching. We got Brenden a "Hummer Jeep" and it was just what Stevie wanted. He couldn't contain himself long enough for Brenden to open his presents. He wanted to play with the "hummer jeep." Needless to say, we had a serious all out insanity meltdown that lasted all the way home.

This is a pic of Stevie bawling his eyes out after we got home with all this pirate gear on. I think it is hilarious. I'm such a mean mom!

Lilly helping with project. She is the cutest!

Stevie at breakfast drinking chocolate milk! I told you my pictures are really out of order!

And this picture should have been first. Nana snuck into our room and took a picture of Lilly and I. She didn't turn the flash off, so it woke us up. But, this is how we sleep from about 3:30am on. She loves to climb right up into my armpit. And yes, my arm goes numb every night!

Here is Stevie working on his "project." That's what he calls it and he is very excited to send it to his dad.

So that was the morning and afternoon of our day but there is a little to tell about the middle of the day. I had to go back to Verizon Wireless and get my bill fixed. See they charged us for an early termination fee for when we canceled Steve's phone, even though Steve went into a Verizon store and showed them his orders....which by law should waive this fee for us. Anyway, last month they charged us so I went into a store and they said they fixed it. Nope... had to go back again. Yes, they did tack on a late fee too...even though the customer service lady I talked to said I should only pay my regular monthly bill!!! And of course I'm still in the east coast billing so out here in the west coast they can't help me. So I have to call customer service from the store to get this fixed. For some dumb reason I can't call from my house. I was pissed. By this time Stevie is climbing the walls and Lilly is crying...I have been in the store so long. Then the lady on the phone was too lazy to get up from her chair and process a fax of Steve's orders so she had me recite them over the phone. Not a happy customer!!!! Oh well! It is supposedly taken care of! We will see, with Verizon, you never know!

What a day.

South Fork Fishing Trip

Stevie is helping Papa and Ad get ready for their fishing trip. He didn't get to go with Ad, and was pretty upset about it, but Papa took Stevie, Kaleo, Nana and I on Sunday after Ad flew back to London. I didn't get any pictures of the trip with my camera, but Kaleo has a few and when I get my hands on them, I will post them. On our trip, I caught 3 fish. A small rainbow, a big rainbow and a cut throat. Stevie netted each one of them and was thrilled to help. He kept telling me to catch him another fish. He got the little rainbow up on the seat of the boat and examined it head to tail for probably an hour. He looked at the gills, fins, teeth, and had a ball. He was really fun to be with this trip and we are going to try and take him again. Last year he got a little bored and tired of sitting in one place for so long...this year he did great. He looked at birds and we floated right under a huge bald eagle. We saw a "family" of pelicans. Stevie calls them families. So cute!!! He started to see the fly on the water and was telling me that the fish were going to eat my fly. It won't be long until he has a pole in his hands. It was a good day.




PS, i'm sorry if little naked boys bother you, it is hard to keep clothes on this kid!

Canoe Trip!

Stevie, Lilly, Nana, Sandy and I went canoeing up to big springs in Hermione Park. We had a great time. The weather was perfect and kids were happy...what more can you ask for?


Ad and Stevie taking a swim to cool off. Although, I don't think Stevie really got wet.

The water is from a natural spring and it is exceptionally cold. I think Stevie got his toes wet and then wanted Ad to carry him. It is a perfect place to take kids because it is very shallow and clear. In fact we get high centered a lot on sand bars.

Can you see Lilly peaking out from under the blanket? I'm in the canoe alone because Ad got hot and went for a swim. It is a lot easier to steer with 2 people! At one point I was nursing Lilly and we got stuck on a sand bar. I couldn't get off and nurse at the same time. I had to wait till Ad could rescue us! Kind of funny...at least to me it was!

Stevie just enjoying the ride!

Lilly had a good time too. Really... don't think I'm a bad mom for not having her in a life-vest, the water only comes up to your knees.

Lilly playing with a blade of grass and fascinated by it!

Ad took his fishing pole along and caught 3 fish. It was fun and interesting to fish in the canoe. A little tippy! I tried my hand a it for a minute, but Ad is a lefty (left handed) and I couldn't get the line reeled in.

Lilly is posing for the camera. I should get props for this float...at one point, I paddled, nursed, took pictures, and kept the boat upright all at the same time!

Here is the second half of our trip. We went to Southern Utah and visited Nana great. It was almost a family reunion. We were missing a couple of very important people but we managed to have a good time anyway.

Stevie in Uncle Karl's boots!! Lilly thought it was funny!

Lilly loves her Nana!

Happy Girl!

Aunt Sarah and Stevie playing with one of Cula's kittens. He is so gentle and cute with the baby!

The whole fam-dam-ly! I can't believe how good everyone looks! Everyone is actually looking at the camera at the same time and the timer went off when it was supposed to and it only took one take! Amazing!

Four generations!

Aunt Sarah and Stevie reading a story. Sarah actually put Stevie to bed this night without any trouble. I think it shows how much Stevie loves his "friend" Sarah.

Peacock strutting his stuff!

Aunt Cula is famous for her kisses...they always make a baby cry. But Lilly broke her record and actually loved on her a bit. Cula also coined the phrase "toot" meaning too cute!

The boys sitting around discussing what fishing gear to use the following day. Uncle Karl and Uncle Andy called Sarah and left her a message to stop at Cabellas on our way down to pick up some "burnt orange jubes." (some fishing lures that are actually called jigs...but Sarah heard jubes and I guess you had to be there to see the funny part of that story...sorry!)

Stevie and Seth in tractor. Seth let Stevie drive and work the hydraulics to run load and unload the bales of hay. Stevie was in high heaven and still talks about He and Seth drivin' the tractor!

Look at the concentration on that kid!!!

My Family minus my very missed and loved husband!

Sweet baby slept through most of the pictures!

We had a great time and can't wait to see everyone soon!

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I appologise for leaving everyone hanging and thank you for checking back in to see if I have posted anything new. My excuse is that I've been sick. And then the kids got sick. We are on the mend but...I tell you what...having sick kids is the worst. We caught a head cold bug with a little fever, runny nose and achy body. Poor Lilly doesn't know how to blow her nose and it takes tallent to nurse and breath through your nose at the same time.

Anyway, I'm back and I'm going to try and post everyday...mostly for my dear husband...so he can be a part of our lives a little bit. If you do read this blog, I would love to see a comment from you. I don't know, somthing about seeing peoples remarks gives me a little excitment for the day.

The Holt Family Tour

We did the family tour this weekend and it started at Grandpa and Grandma Holt's house. We had a very nice visit with not only papa and nana great but Aunt Tiffany, Uncle Mark, and cousin, Janel stopped by too. Janel and Stevie hit it off like old friends. They did chalk on the drive way, played with bubbles in the back yard, and wrassled!


Here is our family. Papa and Nana great, kids, grand kids and great grand kids.

Papa Great and Lilly.

Janel and Stevie playing bubbles!

It was great to see everyone. Our visits are always too short. We stayed the night and went to breakfast the next morning. It was good to see everyone!

Shellin' Peas

This is a time honored tradition of shelling peas...and Stevie has officially joined in the ranks. Nana, when she knows I will be here for the pea crop, will plant an especially large crop and this year is no different. Because I have pretty severe allergies, she does all the picking and then we both will shell and process them. These are the sweetest most delicious food known to man. But they take forever to shell and freeze them all. Stevie jumped right in and helped. He has his own little pan, a towel, and away he went. The only difference between us is my peas were cooked and frozen where as Stevie made a nice little pile and ate them all!

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July. We had a good day! Ad, Nana, and Papa all went fishing and caught a bunch of beautiful fish. Stevie, Lilly and I went to the parade. Stevie's favorite part of the parade was playing in the fountain right beside the road where the parade was going on. It was such a hot day that besides having a blast, it cooled him off too. Lilly and I should have splashed around too.

We did watch quite a bit of the parade. I was impressed with how realistic a lot of the floats were. There was this one with people dressed as monsters that worried Stevie. They looked so real.


It is sad to say this is my first picture of Lilly on this blog. But here is she. She watched most of the parade from my arms but when my back broke, she played in the stroller for a while. Isn't she a doll?!?! She is almost sitting up these days...but in this picture, she is propped up with a blanket.

One of the people walking in the parade gave Stevie and Lilly a flag. Stevie thought it his duty to "wave the floats by." He is so cute. The best had to be when the horses walked by. Everyone was talking about how cute and beautiful the horses were and Stevie says loudly, "Oh cool, look mom, a sweeper truck...I have one of those at Nana and Papa's house!"

After the parade we came home for naps. And just as I was putting the kids to bed, we got to visit with Daddy (Steve) through yahoo IM. It was great. We even got to see his smiling face for a minute. Stevie just misses his dad so much...it was good for him to see him. Lilly got really excited when Steve's face appeared on the screen. She started "talking" to her dad too! It works out pretty good, Stevie comes right up to the computer screen and loudly talks to his dad hoping to hear his voice talk back. I write to Steve what Stevie says and then read what Steve says to Stevie. It is cute. Stevie gets louder and louder hoping Steve will talk back. The two of them are so close it breaks my heart to watch them be separated!

Ad, Nana and Papa got home about five and we had dinner in the back yard. This Stevie at dinner. He loves these new sun glasses and insisted on eating dinner with them on. If you know Stevie at all, this is what a typical dinner with him looks like. It is near impossible to get this kid to eat. Although when bribed with cake and ice-cream, he did finish his dinner.

This is Lilly and I right after a delicious dinner of Salmon, fresh peas from the garden, carrots, potatoes and all over yummy!

Adam getting a little lovein' from Lilly. She loves Nana's carrots from the garden!

After dinner, I made some of Paula Dean's Brownies to take with us to Nana Great's house this weekend and the boys enjoyed licking the beaters!

Here is the most beautiful girl in the world just chillin'!

About 9pm we lit fireworks. Stevie with Uncle Ad's help, did sparklers, snakes and some small fountains.

But he hates the loud ones. This picture is when a loud scary firework went off and both Lilly and Stevie are crying. It was so funny because he wouldn't have been scarred if both Nana and I hadn't screamed. I was laughing and Lilly and Stevie were crying. I felt bad, but it was funny. Poor Stevie was so scarred. But he was brave enough to watch the rest of them.

It was a good day. Would have only been better if Steve could have enjoyed it with us!