"Water Tribe"

This is one of our favorite clips at home lately. When the kids are being crazy, we will tell them we've "got our eye" on them, and one of them will whisper "WATER TRIBE". Brooklyn's version is the best. By the way... we LOVE the Avatar. We have to pretend to be benders all the time.

Uhhh Dad?

Were driving down the road today running errands. Brooklyn and Tanner are pulling the classic brother and sister fighting in the back. They keep saying..

"your crossing the line.. your on my side"
" she's on my side of the car!"
"He touched me again!"

Finally Mike turns around and says, "Can't you two just learn to co-exist peacefully?" to which Tanner replied, "Dad you do know that we don't understand what that means - right?"

Touche Tanner - Touche!

ARRRR!

Yesterday we had a fun evening with Grandpa Ralls. She took the grand kids out to buy a new outfit at the mall. Then we drove down to Orem where we went to a Pirate Pizza place. They all came dressed up in their Pirate attire. The kids menu's were also pirate hats as well. They had a huge arcade area and a play land where the kids had a blast. The restaurant was decorated like a pirate ship and all the people who worked there were in full pirate swag! It was a really fun place and the food was actually pretty good. If your looking for a new fun place to go... I would certainly recommend it. It was well worth the drive!

Home on the Range

We went up to Idaho a couple of weeks ago to visit my Grandpa and let the kids have a chance to see their Great Grandpa and help on his farm. The kids had a great time! They loved seeing the cows and riding the horse. I think Brooklyn liked chasing all the kittens the best. The boys thought that chopping the wood was neat and eat ting cookies. We all ended the day by going to the park and having a picnic with Grandpa and Grandpa and ended the afternoon with family pictures. It was a great trip!

Let me try it first...

Yesterday I'd had enough of watching Brooklyn pick her nose. Finally after dinner I told her, "If I see that finger in your nose one more time I'm going to get out the wooden spoon and spank you. Do you understand!" She just stared at me calmly for a few seconds and then went back to playing. A few minutes later I saw her walking out of the kitchen and her underwear were around her ankles. I asked her what she was doing. As I looked closer, she had the wooden spoon in hand, she told me, "I'm just going to try it and see if it hurts".

I Guess she figured she really wanted to pick her nose and better see what the spoon was going to feel like since she knew she was going to be spanked with it. Needless to say I had to go hide behind the door because I was laughing so hard.

What really happens in the Boys bathroom

Today I got a call from Tanner's school from the Vice Principal. Of course when I saw "HL Elementary" I was worried. He told me nothing was wrong and tanner hadn't done anything bad, but there had been an "incident". Bracing myself for the worst, I listened.

You'll never believe what he told me. "Tanner and his friend were in the bathroom at the Urinals and I guess his friend decided it would be funny to PEE on him. He's shirt and shorts are all wet and he needs a change of clothes. Do you think you could stop by the school with some?"

OH MY HECK!!! What is wrong with kids! Who would do that! Not only that, but who would not have taught their children that this would absolutely not ever be ok to do? I understand boys are boys, but there must be line some where that's drawn. Tanner said he wasn't mad at his friend, but it did make him feel sad.

These are the days that make you want to keep your babies safe at home in your arms where no one can be mean! I guess we all have to learn it the hard way!

It is a quite week...

This week will be so quite in our home. Mike and Brooklyn flew out to Virginia to be with his family. His Grandma past away this weekend and he really wanted to be with his Mom to help her out. Sadly, Tanner and I had to stay home. Tickets at the last minute are crazy expensive - even WITH buddy passes from our great brother-in-law. Plus... Tanner has an eye doctor appointment on Tuesday at Primary Children's which takes months in advance to schedule, so we couldn't miss it. Now I get the luck of working lots of extra hours too since I have no kids home during the day to play with.

Last night Tanner stayed at his cousins house since I had to work early this morning. The house was so quite and me being the chicken I am, not only triple checked all the doors and windows, but also locked my bathroom and bedroom doors just in case.

Today Tanner and I are going to hit the last Bee's Baseball game and then have the ladies from our neighborhood over for games and snacks. I have a feeling it will mostly be visiting, but since that's my favorite part about our get togethers, I really don't mind. Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to get Tanner to bed early and keep him there while everyones over to our house!

oh what do you do in the summer time....

I can't believe summer is nearing its end. August is almost hear and Tanner will be starting school in a month. Even though we've been car-less for the last 2 months, we've really done a lot.

Here are a few things....
- Virginia and New York (May counts as summer... right?)
- Fire works and fun for the 4th and 24th of July
- Manti Pagent
- Camping in Ferron
- Swimming at the "beach" in Herriman

and here's what is still to come....
- Papa Mickey visits in August
- Cherry Hills
- Harvest days
- back to school shopping... my favorite!
- Movies in the Park
- Grandma Debbie visits in September

Luckily I now have a car, so hopefully we can add a few more fun things to the list. If you have any good ideas, let me know!

Camping in Ferron

We had so much fun camping in Ferron, Utah. We stayed for 5 days, and yes... we stayed in a tent. I always wonder why I do it, but I guess making memories with your kids is what is important. Everyone had so much fun and got along great. The fishing was terrific and the

Weather was perfect. It was a little hot, but luckily it only rained for about an hour the whole trip. Here are a few pictures of our exciting trip!

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!!!!

So it has been raining non stop for the last few weeks here in Utah. It has to wait until school is out to damper everyone's fun. Since we aren't able to go swimming outside or play at the park, we decided we better still have fun. Tanner, Brooklyn and I went outside to splash and dance in the MASSIVE rain storm we had this afternoon. We jumped in the HUGE puddles by the road and chased leaves down the streams. We found the biggest worm I have ever seen in my life. Brooklyn decided it was so big that it had to be a snake. She carried it around on stick and kept it safe under an umbrella. When we told her he needed to stay in the garden and she couldn't bring him inside, she started to cry. She said, "But he's my best pet snake!". After a little coaxing, we convinced her that we could come visit him any time if she left him in our garden. By the time we came inside, there LITERALLY was not a dry square inch on either of them. Now were kicked back in our warm dry robes watching "Drake and Josh" and eating marshmallows with hot chocolate. (not in the drink.... just by the handful!) Lets hope the rain stops some time soon. I don't know if I can be stuck inside my house all summer with both my kids and no car to drive anywhere!

Mary and Tim's Wedding

This is Mary and Tim's wedding from Brooklyn and Tanner's point of view: Brooklyn: "Mary... I have a e-cret to tell you. Last night, when mommy was at the church, they were walking out to the car, and they heard a big BANG. mommy and daddy went to -ee (see) what it was and your wedding had fawen and kwashed. Now the lights are all broken."

Amber: "Brooklyn!! You were supposed to tell her that secret!!"

Tanner: " Hey... take a picture of me jumping. I'm a super hero. Can I see the picture?"

Tanner: " Mom it's way to hot out here. I can't wear these stupid clothes."

Amber: "Take of your jacket and roll your sleeves up. You can go hid under that bush for shade."

Tanner: "You want me to go under there in the dirt?"

Brooklyn: "Lizzie, your my best friend. Look we have the -game drwess."

"Hi baby Lijah....your just so cute. Kiss"

"Hey Dad... Take a picture of me.

Let me see it. Ok.. lets do it again.

Take a picture of me doing this now...."

Amber: 'Don't they look so cute Tanner?"

Tanner: "Why did Mary and Tim

do that weird dance. Who does

light saber fights at their wedding?"

Tanner is making that face because

he's sitting next to Mike's massive hair.

In case you were wondering,

this is what it looks like in the morning....

Brooklyn: "Hey mommy... these are my friends.

This is Abby and this is my friend."

Amber: "Do you know her name?"

Brooklyn: " No... its just friend."

A- "Tanner go ask the little girls to dance"
T-"No way" A- "I'll pay you"
T- "Ok... for $5" A-"No... $2" T- "$2.70"

A- "Ok deal. But you have to do a slow dance too"

T- "Only if you make it $2.80"

One of the first things we did on our trip to DC was go to the Zoo. I'd have to say it's one of my favorite things to do when we visit. The weather was perfect that day and everyone had a great time. We were able to see almost all the animals, including a cute little baby gorilla. Brooklyn and Lizzie were more excited to see the birds and catapillars. It was so much fun, but I have say its not easy pushing two kids up those hills. Thanks for your help Jen! We'd still be stuck at the Zoo if it wasn't for you!

Tanner's Teeth

Tanner had to go to the dentist to have his front two teeth pulled. His permanent teeth had grown in completely behind his baby teeth and were not going any where on their own. Tanner was such a brave little man. He was in and out in less than 20 minutes! He had both teeth pulled and a cavity filled with out any fuss! It might have been valium they had me give him before we came, but Tanner says its because he got to play "Lego Star Wars" on the XBOX while they did his dental work. I guess you CAN get him to do anything with video games!

The Doll House

I'm mostly finished with Brooklyn's doll house. It was mine and Kelli's when we were little and we loved it. I refinished it, got adorable furniture made for it, and hand made all of the pillows and blankets. It was a lot of work, and still isn't done, but it sure is fun to play dolls in! Even Tanner gets in on the act by having his playmobil men and Ninja Turtles jump off the roof. Just let me know if you want to come over to play!

Happy 3rd Birthday Brooklyn!

Brooklyn had a wonderful birthday party today. We had a tea party that was very fancy for a few of the little kids and then had family over for birthday cake.

I can't believe she's so big already It amazing to see how much she has grown in the last 3 years....

Baby Animal Days

Mary was kind enough to invite us up to see Baby Animal Days in Logan last weekend. I drove up with the Kids Friday morning and planned to just stay for the day. The lines to get in were so long, but thanks to Mary we didn't have to wait at all! We stayed all day and we had so much fun that we had Mike drive up from Salt Lake when he was done with work. We ended up staying at a hotel and we all went swimming that night. We went to Baby Animals days on Saturday and spent most of the day enjoying the great weather and fun. The kids had a blast and there was so many things to do. We made crafts, played games, held all the baby animals, rode a pony, watched a puppet show, went on a treasure hunt, played in the Teepee's, held snakes (well not me), held baby turtles, saw the Easter bunny, went on a wagon ride, shot a bow and arrow... the list goes on and on. Tanner threw a tomahawk and Brooklyn became best of friends with one of the mountain men. He actually said he wanted to bring her home with him, and I think she would have gone happily. The highlight of the trip was watching Tanner star in Mutton Bust'in! He was the first kid of the group to go. He got right on that sheep and went right down. I think he stayed on 2 seconds at the most. The best part was, after his body slam to the ground he threw up his fingers and gave a number 1 on the dirt. Then the clown helped him up and he threw his fist in the air to the crowd! He was by far the best to watch. All the other kids just burst in to tears. We even heard someone a few rows back say that he was the funnest one to watch! Thanks Mary!

from Start Student to Principal's Award

Every day when I pick up Tanner from school I ask him, "what did you do today in class?". Once a month he tells me "they had the start student award. But I didn't getting... AGAIN!!. I do everything I'm supposed to and I never win. I'm super nice to everyone in class, I do good at my work, and I'm always a good helper. I don't think the principal even knows I'm there."

This month was Tanner's lucky month though. On Thursday May 2nd, Tanner went to the Start student award assembly as usual. All the kids from Kindergarten through 2nd grade meet in the gym. Two students from each class get a "Star Student Award" and then 1 student get the "Principal's Award". His teacher had called us ahead of team so we were able to be there to watch. Tanner was so excited when they called his name. He couldn't believe that he'd won not only the great Honor of being a Start Student, but for the extra special surprise of getting the "Principals Choice Award". He got a star pencil, and a Pin that says "Principal award". He also got a certificate for Wingers for a free kids meal, and 1 free kids meal to Applebee's. He's so excited about both! (Although that does mean we now have to buy dinner for everyone else in the family in order for him to use and enjoy his award. I love the way corporate America works.)

His Teacher Mrs. Hargrove and Principal Ichiman said he was given the award because, "Tanner is a dependable and hard working student." We are so proud of Tanner and how hard he works to be a good student and an even better friend and example. We love you so much Tanner and are so proud of you!

Our Favorite Things

A few of our Favorite things

Breakfast-
Tanner:Oatmeal
Brooklyn: Sausage Links dipped in syrup

Place to eat out-
Tanner: Panda Express
Brooklyn:Any place I don't have to play on a playland

Game to play-
Tanner: Mancala or Checkers
Brooklyn: Dolls or Candy land

Color-
Tanner: Blue or Purple
Brooklyn: Orange

Song-
Tanner: Star Wars Remix (Techno)
Brooklyn: I don't like any music (really she doesn't)

TV Show-
Tanner: Sponge Bob Square Pants
Brooklyn: Max and Ruby or Caillou

Movie-
Tanner: Star Wars & Indiana Jones
Brooklyn: Anything with a Disney Princess

The line I say most-
Tanner: "That's not fair!"
Brooklyn:"Stop it Tanner"

Place to be-
Tanner: My friends house
Brooklyn: Nana and Papa's

When I grow up I want to be.....
Tanner says "An Olympic runner or a poop-poo head with a monkey in space"
Brooklyn says "I want to be big and strong"

If I had one wish it would be.....
Tanner would wish for "A real life saber"
Brooklyn would wish for "a baby mermaid"

The one thing I look forward to most right now is....
Tanner "Going water sliding at Cherry Hills this summer"
Brooklyn "Having a Tea party with Lizzie... she's my best friend"

"That's the money you could have saved with Geico"

So I thought I'd play a little joke on Mike. He leaves to work at about 5:30 am, so I had to get it all out the night before. I stayed up late after he went to sleep and set it up. When he went out to his car this morning and turned the key to back out of the garage,this is what he saw....

I had put "money eyes" on his dashboard and put the music in his CD player. He called me from work this morning and said he thought it was great. I think we might pull it on my mom. They have the music for free on Geico.com if anyone else would like to pull this prank on someone!

St. Patrick's Day Catastrophe!!

Well yesterday while I was working, Mike and this kids had a catastrophe! Brooklyn had woke up from a nap grumpy. Tanner, being the nice brother he is, decided he'd try to cheer her up. He got out his frog so she could play with him. I guess while the frog was out, Tanner decided he'd give him a tour of the house. He showed him the back porch, gave him a bath in the sink, had him sit at the desk and watch Tanner play a video game. Then he decided the frog would like to watch TV with him. I guess he sat him down on the couch and forgot he was there. When Mike asked him where the frog was, he realized HE WAS MISSING!!!

Mike and the kids tore the house apart looking for the frog, but couldn't find him. I was prepared to find a dead frog underneath our stove in a few weeks and to deal with a distraught Tanner. Luckily when I walked through the door Tanner was waiting for me with a beaming smile and his frog. My house really was a mess from their searching. Every cushion on the couch was off, the book shelves and desk were all moved, nothing was where it should be. The funny thing was, after all of their tearing apart of the house, the frog was hiding under the corner of the rug right next to the couch. I guess he hadn't gotten very far after all!!

Tanner, Frog, and Brooklyn are all much happier today. I guess we'll see what adventures lie in our path next!!

Princess Brooklyn

Brooklyn is certainly in her prime of the terrible and terrific two's! She loves to play dress up and wears a different princess dress every day to pick up Tanner at school. She just recently got a gold fish which she killed with in 2 days. I walked in to her room after 1 day and found her standing on her toy chest over the fish bowl with a toy spoon. Tanner informed me she was trying to squish it against the bowl with the wooden spoon. From that point on the fish was swimming vertically instead of horizontally and he died with in a few hours. She cried for about 15 seconds and has never looked back. Although she did ask me yesterday if we could get the fish out of the toilet so they could play.
For those of you who don't know, Brooklyn will be turning 3 on April 17th. We are planning to have an "Alice in Wonderland" tea party. She is very very excited and has asked that everyone come in a princess dress. We may have to alter the party attire a little though. All of the guests will be her brother and cousins, 99% of which are boys. If you'd like to attend... please let us know and we'll be sure to send you an invitation!

Tanner's 100 days of Kindergarten

Tanner just got his report card from school. His teacher says he is doing wonderful! He received almost all 4's (which is like an A) and just a few 3's. He is reading at a beginning 1st grade level and his teacher said he is probably the best student in class at math! (which we all already knew!) His Kindergarten class just celebrated their 100 days left of school. They each had to make a project with 100 of something. Tanner was very creative and came up with an idea to make a night sky with 100 fireworks. It was all his very own idea from start to finish. We used colored Christmas lights to make the fireworks, and Tanner drew pictures of himself and his friends on the grass watching. He even drew a picture of a man selling glow sticks and candy in a stand! He received so many compliments about it and all the older kids in the school told him they liked his best of all. He was very proud of it and were very proud of him!

Have you ever seen someone blog less?

The Rowlett Family is still here... we just don't blog much! You'd think I've been really busy or something, but I really haven't. Our family is doing great. Mike and Amber are the same as usual. Brooklyn is going to be turning 3 in April and is still a smarty pants. Tanner is doing great in school and can't wait for the summer. Hopefully I can be a little better at this whole blog thing!