From the Mouths of Little Boys

Here's a few things that my boys say, or have said, that I think are hilarious!

Abram
"It's Tuesday!"(If it's good)"It's Friday" (If it's bad) example: "It's Friday, so you hit me in the head."
"Let's go to the ____ park." Please fill blank in with Diego, Wubsy, or Wonderpets.
"I'm eatin' alot of my flowers."(flowers=round tortilla chips)
"Flies live in beehives...flies live in flyhives...Mom, where do flies live?...Flies live in our house."
"Can we go to the hotel?" (This is a constant question!)

Isaac
...Panting like a puppy...-Isaac(Our little puppy)
"I do it!!!"
"I need my 'daughter'." (daughter=water)
And my personal favorite...
"I love women." (women=swimming) He yelled this one at the swimming pool the other day at the top of his lungs. Several people looked at us weird!

Memories!!

Here is a fun little game...Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark...get set...blog your memories!!

Nauvoo trip

We just stayed for 3 or so days with Craig's whole family...23 kids, 12 adults...in hotel rooms in Nauvoo. We really enjoyed being with all his family. We'll post pictures as soon as I download them. It was my first time there and that is our temple now that we've moved. It was super nice to have a reunion. It was also nice to go to the temple. We would like to send out a few special thank yous...Thanks to the nieces that watched over our boys while we were in Nauvoo, it helped a ton. AND Thanks to Craig's parents for making it all possible. It was fun to visit with Craig's Parents and all his sisters and their families. Abram and Isaac loved being with their cousins, all the girls and all the few boys.;-) It made us want to live a little closer to family after spending some great time with them in Nauvoo.

To Jenn and my Mom-
Grab a calendar and let me know when you want to go. I think you would both really like it. It was a blast!!

Elephantitus and Windex

So, this is my gross post for a little while.

Have you seen the windex commercials?














Yep, it's true. This bird flew right into my window!! He's dead now. Tell all your neighborhood birds!
Next item of business. This is Abram's foot.














Yep, it look like elephantitus! He got some kind of infection from a bug bite. He's better now.

Abram's birthday

Here's the birthday pictures!


































P.S. That picture of Abram in front of the birthday
cake...that's a sneeze...YUM :~Q

Happy Birthday

Four years have past with my wonderful Abram boy. I am so proud to be his mom. I am thankful to have blessed with such a wonderful little man like him! He's one of my favorites! I just can't resist his cute little smile and laugh. He is so sweet and tender. We are so blessed to have him in our family.

Great Friends

This is Hannah and Abram. Hannah lives down the street from us and is in our ward. She likes to draw pictures for Abram and Abram likes to take rock treasures to her.





This is Hannah's little brother Benjamin. (Also known as 'in the men' as Isaac says it.) Isaac adores Benjamin! They have helped each other do well in nursery.

Here's some flowers and plants we have planted as a family. Many we got from neighbors and friends.




Craig loves his new grill! He couldn't wait to put it together! It sat in the middle of the kitchen floor for a day while he put it together and admired it. The problem was we bought it a week before our deck was done. So, here's Craig grillin' on our front walk.








Here's Abram's best friend, Sophie. She's really his girlfriend. She plays like a boy. She loves Diego, wonderpets, dolphins, dinosaurs, and sharks. She bosses Abram around like crazy, but he follows her like a puppy! They've been caught playing house with him calling her 'honey' and her calling him 'sweetie.' I have about 50 of these blurry pictures on my camera because Abram found the camera and was taking pictures of Sophie modeling.
Here's a better picture of Sophie. Of course, she's wearing boy's swim wear because that's all we have in our house. Her brother Colton is behind them. Isaac loves Colton too! We play with Sophie and Colton almost every day. They live down the road. I adore her whole family. We've really loved being able to hang out with them. In case you're wondering, Sophie has cancer. Abram doesn't even know. The first time we met them, we were going to the elementary school to play on the playground when she ran out to the sidewalk and said, "You wanna play hide-and-seek?" We played all sorts of fun things for about 2 hours. That night Abram was telling Craig all about Sophie and the fun things they did. I was surprised that he didn't mention that she didn't have hair. Then I said, "Abram, what color is Sophie's hair?" He said, "I don't know." Me: "Abram, does Sophie have hair?" Abram: "Um...no." Then that was it. He doesn't even notice she looks any different than other girls. He has since told me that he thinks Sophie is pretty. I think Sophie is pretty too. I think Abram and Sophie have had some conversations about the cancer though, because today Abram told me that medicine doesn't always make you feel better. I asked him who told him that and he said Sophie told him that sometimes medicine can make you feel sick. Interesting that they've talked about this. Anyway, Abram loves Sophie and asks all day long everyday to play with Sophie. He wanted her to go to church with him today and informed the Primary chorister that Sophie was his best friend in between a few songs. Sophie feels the same for Abram. She wanted him to spend the night at her house last night...of course that didn't happen.

We're glad that our boys have found such good friends here! Thanks Hannah and Benjamin, and Sophie and Colton!

Private Pooper

An Emotional Week

This has been a very emotional week to say the least. My friend Brittany Kunz lost her baby boy, Daxton, this week to a freak accident. (See the post below.) Our community is being ravished by the river. (See pictures below in this post.)

I just really feel a need to share with you all the love that I've seen this week. Beside the tears I and my family shed for Brittany's family, I have seen so many women make comments on her blog, women that did not know her. Women who just wanted her to know that they care. Mothers all around me are praying and crying for her family. I can see the people who "mourn with those who mourn." I have seen so many reach out to their family and I am grateful. I am grateful to be a mother and to share in that bond that comes with motherhood. I am grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that families can be together forever and that little children always, always return to Heavenly Father. What a blessing we have in the gospel!!

We also have been blessed to be a part of this community where I am currently living. Throughout the week Craig and I have had the opportunity to sandbag and help out in our community. There was a point where we ran out of sand and had to wait for the truck. I looked around and saw so many people there helping. There were people in wheelchairs, men and women of all ages, and older children. Strangers were hugging. I had the thought about all of us uniting as one and working toward something greater. At that moment, we were all brothers and sisters. I loved it.

I just wanted to share these wonderful experiences with you. I know that it's in the most difficult times in life that our blessings become the most apparent. I am thankful for my blessings, and the blessing for others that I have seen around me all week.

NOW FOR THE PHOTOS

This is my town.



















This is the park at the bottom of my hill. There was this cute little carnival area that only cost $0.60. We hope we can get it back.

















This is Abram's preschool. This picture was taken several days ago and now the preschool is completely under water. This has been a difficult experience for Abram. He's had a hard time seeing his school, the park, the playground, and the library suffer damage. He spent some quality time crying over it. The other day he went outside in his 'Super Abram' outfit and yelled at the rain and said, "I'm gonna make it stop rainin'!!!" We had a good lesson about prayer that night.
























This is the road the Bascoms will live on. His school is underwater currently. Keep us posted Bascoms.
8 of the University of Iowa buildings are under quite a bit of water. Brandon's school is under a large amount of water. This is the largest flood Iowa City ever has record of. We went past the 500 year mark with this flood.

















This is a neighborhood we almost bought in. The house we looked at is underwater. We're thankful for renting now.


















This not suppose to be a river, but the lake spilled over making a 5 ft deep river running through our already flooded town. To say the least, this is a disaster zone.

Realize that most of this pictures were taken days before our river crested even, and these places are under even more water now....probably 8 feet more water. Craig went to sandbag on Friday, walking into the area, and 3 hours later had to be hauled out in a big truck. He said the water was up to his waist. The water was rising that quickly. It's awful to see the damage, but watching the river itself is just amazing!! I have never seen water do the things that are happening here. I can somewhat see why some tribes have worshipped the river. It's powerful and beautiful. The mayor of the town above us wanted to use the river to bring more business to the area, and last year in a town meeting say that "this should be the year of the river." Whelp...now it is for sure!!

Brittany's Daxton

My friend Britt lost her little one year old boy this weekend. He was found in his crib wrapped up in the cord from the blinds. They tried everything to revive him, but it was too late. Please, please pray for their family and be very careful with blind cords.
We love you Brittany and will be praying for you and your family.

Basement Dweller...Yuck!

This sucker was in my basement. It's enlarged here, but pretty scary. I was running like 100 mph. Yuck!











P.S. This is not my basement. I got this off the internet. The one in my basement is very, very dead!

Abram's Input and Move Updates

Here's some funny things Abram said just today. I should really write these down more regularly.

Me: "I love all my boys!"
Craig: "Am I a boy?"
Me: "Yes. Abram, is Daddy a boy?"
Abram: "No, he's a man...(then looking down and lowering voice).. a silly man."

Me cutting myself: "OOOOOWWWW! I'm bleeding."
Abram: "You'll be okay." in his best suck-it-up voice.

Abram responding to Craig not doing what Abram wanted: "Daddy, you need to turn around and go back home!"


Now for the next item of business. The move...

Life is going well in our new place. I made the trip in only 9 hours and 3 bite marks on the boys. After that I arrived to the Elder's Quorum unloading our truck. The men had accidently switched the master bedroom with Abram's room. I (of course in my most polite voice after 9 hours in the cars with two biting kids) informed them that if the box only says 'bedroom' it goes in the master bedroom only!! My kids were in a spiral of no sleep and an hour past bedtime without having dinner yet, and I in the mist of all of this kept my sanity. (if by that I mean, that I threw the biggest tantrum I've thrown since I was 12!) Needless to say that all of this happen after Craig and I had discussed making a good impression the night before.
Yep.
Didn't happen.
But, this wasn't the worst, some of the wives showed up to witness the event. (Abram crying, "Not you Mommy, not you Mommy! I need my Daddy!" Isaac falling off the truck and hitting his head on the cement. Abram cutting his finger and SCREAMING at the top of his lungs for 20 MINUTES! And me telling the women, "I'm sorry I really can't talk...if you could just leave.") Looking back, it was hilarious. One of the women stopped by the next day, just to make sure I was 'okay.' It was such a bad first impression that I'm tempted to spread some saucy rumors about our lives just for fun(can't get any worse, plus it might be fun)!

After that night, things went smoothly. I went to enrichment the next day and made penitence to some of the women. Thankfully, some of them were just as nuts as me and thought it was good for the husbands to see other women and their children acting like that. I told them that Craig came in afterwards and said, "Summer, you embarrassed me in front of my friends." They thought that was pretty funny...of course it was a lie... but they don't know that I lie yet, so it was kinda fun that they believed me. I wonder if it will get back to Craig?;-o

Other parts of life include the 3 leaks we had the 2nd day we lived here. All easily fixed, thankfully. We are currently having earth anchors installed and the yard is being graded, so it's a little dirty. My boys love it! We've had tractors in our yard for a couple of days. Not to mention the big dirty men that are coming in and out of our basement. Abram has to talk to them everytime they came. He actually told one of the men that he spits on his brother. (Yes, you read that right.) I guess he couldn't think of anything else to say. The man thought it was hilarious!

Craig and I love our new house (the boys love the doorbell) and are looking forward to having a table instead of a couch in our dining room. All is well and we are starting to feel at home. Craig is out cleaning the Nauvoo temple tonight since it's our wards night, and we are thankful for the opportunities we have. Life is good. My kids are doing great and they have their own rooms. Quiet time and bedtimes are a breeze compared to what they were in our last place with 2 bedrooms. Dinner times are easier with a second living area to play in and we are so thankful for space!!!

P.S. For personal glory, I would just like to gloat that we were the 2nd people in the history of Forest Hills to move out without charges!!! Ta Dow baby!! It was said of the 1st people, 'they didn't really live there.'

(In my Oscar-winning voice) I would just like to thank Aubrey for washing walls, Sam for taking out the putt-putt course, Sharon for babysitting, Naomi for taking stuff to Salvation Army, and Seth, Mike, Jessie, Matt, Dave, and Curt for loading the truck. We really couldn't have done this without each and everyone of you!! (End Oscar-winning voice)
Thanks for real!
(The picture above me above doubled for the move experience and my best WWF move for Forest Hills!)

Graduating Siblings

It seems like just yesterday that Schellie was graduating from kindergarten and I was graduating from high school(on the same day). Now it's Journey's turn. He gets to graduate with me this year. As many of you know, a couple of weeks ago was my graduation. Now this is a picture of my little brother Journey going to his graduation. Doesn't he look handsome in his little tuxedo!

It feels kinda special to get to graduate along with these cool kindergarten kids!! Now off to the real world for both of us. (Or at least that's what you think everytime you graduate. ;-) )

Rikki's Color Quiz Results

You Are a Purple Crayon

Your world is colored in dreamy, divine, and classy colors. You hold yourself to a sky high standard, and you are always graceful. People envy, idolize, and copy you without realizing it. You are an icon for those who know you. And while it is hard to be a perfectionist, rest assured it's paying off! Your color wheel opposite is yellow. While yellow people may be wise, they lack the manners and class needed to impress you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Movin'

So we are moving out!! Tuesday is the big day, so any extra hands would be great!! Craig just received his final paperwork today. The house we're moving into is having its yard graded as I'm writing this. Progress is being made! Yeah for us. It's exciting to be starting this chapter in our lives. Pray for us!
Love you all!

Idol, finals, and kids

So, tonight the tv was on to American Idol and when David Archuletta was singing, my little boy Abram felt so inspired to start singing along with him...not that Abram knew any words, but he just couldn't hold the song inside!!!






Today at the library Craig had to bring the boys home because they were fighting with other kids, (Isaac started most of them of course). I think Isaac thinks that pushing other kids is a way to show them that you like them. I felt bad for Isaac that he has gathered this from his home environment, but that's what you get when you're 19 mo younger than Abram. If nothing else, Isaac needs to learn not to push bigger kids...'Dude, he's gonna pummel you!!!'

This picture is after Isaac just smacked Abram right across the forehead!


These are the sweet hugs!


And this is the forgiveness of a 3 year old. These pictures were all taken seconds from each other and already Abram loves his baby brother enough to smile this big with that hand print on the side of his head. Thanks Jess, this is classic!

On another note, finals and a move are coming up pretty soon for me, so this is most likely a farewell until after I move. Lots of love to you all!!

Updates

So our house fell through. Dates got all screwy and it all fell apart. So we went out to look again. We looked at another place, which also wouldn't work out. Seeing as we are movin' the first week in May, we need somewhere to live other than the van. So we are renting a house in Iowa City. The house has been completely remodeled and we love it. It's in a fab school district (walking distance) and close to the pre-school I wanted. It also is very close the dental school. It's on a circle, so no traffic, and it's huge!! With a huge backyard and a garage! So is there a problem??? Well, it's not finished being remodeled and may not be done until after we get there. I'd put pictures up, but there's no siding and other things are being taken care of. Anyway, we'll post pictures when we move. Craig and I have decided that this is where we will live for four years, and we're just going to deal with the construction for a little while. I hope this a good update. I'll post pictures after we move.
P.S. My friend Abbi is making progress, but she's still in the hospital and could use prayers. Thanks.

My friend Abbi

My friend Abbi (quasi-cousins) is very, very sick. She might be in the ICU for several weeks if she continues to get better. Please pray for her.

Kaitlyn our new niece

Blessed Mother

Today I gave a presentation on Adoption. I presented a mathematical model that was suppose to give more realistic wait times for adoptive couples based on race, time of entry, etc. And although this was a math project, it was very emotional for me. I can not tell you how thankful I am to be a mother. I also can not tell you how thankful I am that there are loving people out there. I read articles ranging from abused children taken in to couples waiting to adopt for years and years and never getting a child. I cried at least once a day while researching this topic. When I was young I never really wanted to be a mother, but now I can honestly say there is nothing that can fill the need to love more than being a mother. I think the most beautiful things in the world is seeing a newborn child and seeing a mother love that child. Every child needs love. So, so many women need children to love. Adoption is one of the most beautiful things I 've ever seen. I am thankful for adoption.