School is now over and Summer has officially begun. Which explains my absence of posting. It's been a busy few weeks. I feel like I am always saying that. But trying to balance family, work, house-work, yard-work, callings and time for training becomes quite the act. I feel like there is always something to be done or be better at. And lately with the warm weather I just want to be outside and not inside worrying about the house and laundry. Blah.... I sometime wish those things could just take care of themselves. It certainly would free up a lot more of my time. Haha.
Anyway, I thought I would just give an update (yet again) on each of us.
So starting with Jesse:
About 2 weeks ago, Jesse went to Denver with his mom to help out with Grandma Sally (who is currently going through Chemo). Jesse had done this once before, back in March, but this time Heidi needed him to go and be the handy man with some new appliances that were purchased for Grandma. Jesse and Heidi drove down there and were gone for 5 days. It was kinda hard having him gone, but knowing he was doing it for a good cause made it easy to bear. And luckily it wasn't like I hadn't gone that long before without him. Sheesh, last year prepped me for just about anything (Maybe I shouldn't be saying that out loud, something bad might happen).
Before Jesse had left for Denver, he had purchased a brand new mountain bike. And it was killing him to not ride it. So after he got home he decided to take it out on one of his days off. Only problem.... I was working and he had the boys. But that didn't stop him. He decided to load Cy in the kid carrier and ride with Cy on his back. Crazy Right? Well it gets more crazy!
His next idea was to tie a rope to Ryker's bike, hook it to his own bike and tow Ryker up the mountain behind him....all while Cy is o his back! Crazy Amazing!!!!
I didn't find all this out until I got home from work. It is freaking awesome that he did that, but when I found out that he did that all the way to Elephant Rock, I was BLOWN away. I mean come on... what kind of Dad does something like that? Duh! Jesse. The coolest dad in the whole world. These boys will have stories to tell their friends about how their dad carried and towed them up a mountain on his mountain bike. Insane!
Unforetunetly there isn't a picture of him in action, but in this picture you can see the set up all laid out on the ground.
He's been trying to go ride every chance he gets. I don't blame him. He's so giddy about his new bike he is eager to get out and test its limits.
As for his job... he is just loving it. Everyone is always asking him and me how he likes it, and I think it's so great that we both can confidently answer..."Yes". Jesse is very happy with his work and it's a great feeling for him (and myself) to have found his place in life. He's where the Lord wants him to be. And that's a wonderful feeling.
As for myself...
I've been continuing my training in between being a mother, wife, hairdresser, Relief Society teacher and home maker. Every chance that comes up, I go to the gym, or go swimming or go ride my bike. I have a bike relay in a couple of weeks that I have been looking forward to. I will have to post about that after I do it.
While Jesse was in Denver I spent a lot of time in the yard. I got our veggie garden planted and the flower beds planted. Since then they have grown at least double in size. It makes me very excited to see them growing, yet very eager for the veggies to come.
This side of the house has always not looked so great to me. So Jesse gave me the idea to move the border to meet up with the house, instead of going past it. That way it would match the other flower bed. This wasn't as easy of a task as I thought it might be. Shoveling is some serious man labor. I never made it to the gym on this day, but I certainly felt like I got my exercise for the day.
This picture was a couple of weeks after I had done all the hard work. Now it's just up to me to maintain it all. But it's the best my garden bed has looked since we moved in 6 1/2 years ago. My thumb is slowly turning more and more green.
Ryker Dude (or what my brother, Tyson calls him.. Rike-Dog or Rike-Puppy):
I feel like Tyson is so dear with Ryker. They have a really cool relationship. Tyson works part-time for the South Davis Rec Center and he was telling me that he was coaching and helping out with their track program. And because he was helping out/working with the track kids, he told me I should sign Ryker up. So I did. Ryker was super excited to participate in it. I thought it would be great for him and when he was excited to go I was thrilled for him. I've been trying to figure out what kind of sport to put him in, but nothing sounded fun to him until I mentioned Track.
The program only was for two months. In that time period they had practice every Wednesday night and a total of two Track Meets. At the track meets they get to pick 2 track events and 1 field event. The options for his age group (6-8yrs) in the track events were: 50m dash, 100m dash, 200m dash and 400m dash. And then they could pick between throwing or jumping for their field event.
His first track meet Ryker chose to do the 50m and 100m dash. He told me the others were too long and he couldn't do it. And I thought his choices were fantastic.
We found out from these few months of track that Ryker doesn't have one competitive bone in his body. He didn't mind that he came in last almost every time. He was more excited for the ones passing him and finishing first. It's so cute. As a parent I feel conflicted because I really would like him to have the desire to win, but on the other hand I love that he is so happy for the winners. That to me shows such character for such a young age.
At his 2nd and final Track meet Ryker chose to do the 400m run and the 100m dash. When he told Tyson that he wanted to do the 400m, Tyson reminded him "Ya know that's the whole way around the track right?" and Ryker was totally ok with that. He wanted to do it.
Only one other boy in his age group chose to do the 400m run. So the two boys took off and with no surprise Ryker came in 2nd. ;-) But that didn't bother him. Ya know what he said to me when he finished? "Mom, I ran the whole time all the way around. Can you believe it?"
What an example to me of the kind of attitude you should have in a race and in life. Who cares where you place, all that matters is that you finished. I love it. And I find it funny and awesome that my 6 year old is teaching me life lessons.
School is out and that means Ryker graduated Kindergarten. Can you believe it? Sheesh. I can and can't at the same time. I really feel like it was a month ago that I was writing about my emotional break down when he went running into the school for the first time. And now he's done.
Funny story about Ryker's teacher that we learned the last month of school. Apparently her parents lived across the street from Mike and Heidi years ago. They were really good friends with the Wilkinson's. I guess Hayley Wilkinson (Ryker's teacher) was just a baby when Mike and Heidi were living by them. Small world huh?
I think Ryker is such a special kid. He truly is so smart, kind and loving towards everybody. Any where we go Ryker sees other kids and he doesn't call them kids, he calls them friends. Again, another great life lesson to learn from him. All his peers are considered his friends. No matter what. I hope he can keep that attitude throughout the rest of his days. It will serve him well.
Now Cy Guy:
Man oh Man does he continue to keep me on my toes. He's still refusing to poop in the toilet. So everyday there is a pooping incident that must be cleaned up. Oh! I don't know how much longer I can handle this. 6 months of potty training with a poop surprise everyday isn't my ideal way to spend time with Cyrus. Not going to lie, I will be VERY happy when this stage has passed us.
I actually have 2 very cute stories about Cy this time. Usually I have stories of how naughty he is. But I want to highlight the cute side of Cy this time.
A week ago our whole family (meaning, me Jesse, Ryker and Cy) were all outside. Jesse and I were working on the yard and the two boys were playing. Typically Cy goes down for a nap after lunch time. But on this day we were all just having so much fun and working hard in the yard that by 2:00pm I realized his nap period had past. If I put him down at that time then he wouldn't go to bed on time. So I just thought that he'll just have to skip his nap that day. He skips his nap every so often and doesn't seem to phase him too bad.
Well around 4:00pm I asked Jesse if he knew where Cy was. You know that moment as a parent when it's too quiet that you know something is up? Well I got that feeling. He has been known to hide from me and not make a peep as I'm calling his name.
Anyway, Jesse mentioned he thought he saw Cy go inside the house. So I went into the house calling his name pretty loud. Over and Over again. Looking in every corner, behind every door, under blankets. I walked downstairs (still yelling his name) to turn the corner and I see into his bedroom. I had to take a second look because something was in his bed. And it was Cy, all tucked in, and ASLEEP!
Seriously? This is the kid that we have to lock in his room and disable the lights so he'll actually fall asleep. He must have been super tired to put himself down for a nap. Haha, I couldn't believe it. I didn't have the heart to wake him up at that moment, so I let him sleep for an hour before I woke him up for dinner.
On the morning of Ryker's Graduation, Cy wanted to ride his bike. Since Jesse was just home from work and I still needed to get ready Jesse said he would walk to the school and let Cy ride his bike. I would then drive over there once I was done getting ready to meet them there.
About 3 minutes after they left I received the following picture text from Jesse that read "He got tired of riding it."
I literally burst out laughing by myself in the bathroom. Because carrying his bike is easier than riding it? Haha... Honestly. The things that he comes up with are so creative. Jesse told me later that Cy carried his bike like that for 2 blocks. Haha. What a hoot! This kid is funny.
So those are my two favorite stories from the last month.
As a side note, and maybe for recording purposes, we are all having the hardest time to get Cy to poop in the toilet. 6 monhts later and we are having a poop incident almost daily. It's rather exhausting. I just hope and pray that he gets it figured out before he starts Preschool in the Fall. Fingers and toes crossed.
There we are. That's us sort of in a little nut shell.
