PATIENCE....is a virtue.

I have a little lady who is pretty determined she can do everything. 

All by herself.

Not only is my little toddler learning all sorts of new talents, I am having to fine tune some skills of my own.

Namely, PATIENCE.

Here we are in Walmart.  Don't you even think of touching the cart to help me, Mom.  I can't see where I'm going, but I WILL push this cart.  By myself. 

Just look at that face- she is all business.

She's got the car seat covered, too.  So she thinks.  Absolutely under no circumstance should any assistance be offered until she has exhausted all possible options of clicking the harness.  All. by. herself.   

But here, HERE is the ultimate test of patience.  This little event was another casualty of mom-is-side tracked-with-packing.  Try not to cry out in horror.  Gasp in utter disbelief.  

That is the drum of my washer.

That is brown paint.

That is brown paint in the drum of my washer.

That is mom nearly blowing up.  Nearly.  It took all I could muster not to come apart at the seams.  Ty knew I was less than thrilled about the fact that he and Lexi loaded my washer with buckets of paint with a lid that wasn't on tight.  But at least I didn't lose it entirely.


Hopefully, the two cycles of "washing machine clean" did the trick.  If not, I will have brown sheets here in a bit. 

I'm working on my virtues.  Patience is coming one little meltdown at a time.

Something Other Than Moving

It seems all I think about is packing and moving and everything associated with it.  So, I'm going to divert my attention a bit and post some pictures.

One of the challenges of parenting is allowing your children to have opportunities to stretch and grow, yet knowing where to draw the line on some things. 

Um, ya.  Don't look at me.  I haven't figured it out yet.  

A great example of this was the other night when Kenna was devastated (drama, severe drama) I wouldn't just whip out my checkbook and buy her something at the Book Fair at school.  What kind of mother am I?! Child abuse!  She suddenly became bound and determined to find a way to earn some quick money.  While I was working on dinner, she marched herself right out to the shed and pulled out the lawn mower. 

I'll insert here a little honest insight into a Mom's mind.  My thoughts: "The mower is bigger than she is.  She can't start the mower.  She'll make a mess of the yard.  I'll have to intervene.  I'm working on dinner!  Not right now!"  Yep, pure honesty my friends.  Nothing to brag about, I admit.  But, at the same time I realized I don't want to put a damper on my child showing a little go-gettem.  So I cringed a little, gritted my teeth, pushed aside my first thoughts and let her have at it.  Here is my determined little lady:

 I really just had to let go of the parts of the lawn getting missed and not go out to try and micromanage the mowing of the lawn.  Besides, all I'll get in return is a firm, "I know how to do it, Mom!"  It's the same thing when the dishwasher gets loaded.  I have to restrain when it doesn't get loaded the way I do it.  Hold back, Britt.  Let them learn!  AAAAH!  Sometimes I can't help it and I just HAVE to reload when they aren't looking!  Another confession.  Whether you wanted it or not.

Speaking of sheer determination, here is my little Ty Man who is trying to learn a new skill of his own:  pumping.  Yes, it's always a great day when your child finally learns how to pump their legs to keep themselves going on the swing.  I couldn't help but giggle watching Ty giving it his all to try and keep it going.  Out, in, out, in.....I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!

 
The look on his face is absolutely priceless.  It's hard work being a kid, you know.

It's hard work being a mom letting your kids be kids, you know.

We just have to keep growing together, I guess.

Distracted

We are right in the thick of trying to get a house ready to sell.

Bleh.

I can't say it's my favorite thing I've ever done.  At all.  I finish up one "little" project only to find another thing to try and spiffy up.

Have you ever tried to spiffy something after a child has ransacked it?  There is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING spiffy about children.  Nothing.  I can't describe the layer of dirt that was covering the floor after we pulled up the carpet of the kids room.  I'm pretty sure small animals scurried away as we tore their habitat away.  Thankfully that little endeavor is completed and the critters have relocated.

So now we move right along to packing, and cleaning, and keeping the kids from destroying, and anything and everything associated with all the of the above. 

In the midst of all our chaos, the kids have been on mom-is-distracted-so-we-can-runamuck mode.  For example:

This is what happens when we've had a bit of rain and mom is inside painting.  Ty and Lexi dressed themselves in their swimsuits.  I'm pretty sure Lexi had to contort her body to get her suit on like that.  They then of course followed their older sister Allie who led them through the mud.  Pretty much they went straight to the tub after this little adventure.

Speaking of adventure, this morning a gentleman who was helping to lay the new carpet in the kids room kindly brought it to my attention that my 2 year old was on top of the van.  Sigh.  She was just in the living room for crying out loud!!!!

Yes, distracted.

For now we'll just keep on spiffying and try to keep our kids off of vehicles.  And out of mud.

Test

So Jacob and I thought we'd conduct a little experiment.

We thought we'd do a little test to find out who reads our blog first.  For our little test we are going to post our new announcement and see who finds out first.  Insert a mischievous little grin here.

We have some big news.

A little change in the family.

Granted, we realize we said this probably wouldn't happen again any time soon.  We weren't necessarily planning on it ourselves right now.  But, sometimes things just happen and it works out for the best.

So are you ready?

Ready for our big news?

Any guesses?

What do you think it is?

We are going to have a new......

Place to live!

Yay!  Oh wait, you thought we were having a baby?  Nope!

Jacob will be transferring to the Logan office for work, so here we go on a new adventure!  It's all pretty surreal and crazy with plenty of details to work out, but we are looking forward to cutting down a bit of time on the family commute.  

So watch out, here we come!

HOORAY!

I love weddings.  Oh I love weddings.  Especially when it's a family member.  It wasn't too long ago we celebrated with Marlene and Jesse on their beautiful day.  And now, NOW (get excited here folks) we are going to have ANOTHER WEDDING!  Yes, I know, I know, I can hear the angels singing too!

Check this out:

There is a ring on that pretty little finger!  Ross and Bekka are getting married! 

Because we live so blinkin' far away we almost ALWAYS miss out on these great little moments.  But this time we really scored.  We got to be there when that gorgeous diamond made its first debut at the Israelsen home.  I think I just about came out of my chair!  I may be just a bit on the excited side.  Just a little bit.

Congrats Ross and Bekka, we can't wait for your big day!!

Soccer!

Ty has been waiting and waiting and waiting for soccer to start.  I got him some soccer cleats about a month ago and he has loved trying them on along with his shin guards wondering when in the world he finally would be able to use them.  He made sure to keep them nice and tidy in a little bin under his bed.  The day finally came and he was as happy as could be!

Here he is drowning in his new soccer outfit.  Check out his celestial ball.  It's only fitting the picture turned out that way- he really was that excited:

Here he is scrimmaging with his "Ty Man's"- or so he calls all his little soccer buddies:

He's only had one practice/game.  It's on Friday nights and they practice for a half hour then play for the other half.  His "team" is huge- it has over 30 kids.  Hence the parents are heavily involved.  It was a bit on the chaotic side, but I'm okay with doing it all on one night rather than having it take up 2 days out of the week.  Ty was a bit disappointed that everyone just ran to the ball in a mad dash but hey, it was only the first night!  Hopefully over the next little while he can perfect some mad soccer skills.  I'm certain he has an inner Beckham just dying to get out.

Way to go Ty Man!

First Day of School

This is what always come to mind on the first day of school:

The cute opening scene in Finding Nemo when Nemo bounces up and down shouting, "First day of school, first day of school!" 

The girls were able to meet their upcoming teachers on the last day of school in May.  At first Kenna was really apprehensive about having a "boy teacher."  In fact, she got the teacher she didn't want.  But, I am happy to report that so far the ladies are very pleased with their teachers and have been really enjoying their first few days.  

The week before school started, both girls expressed some anxiety about going back.  Thankfully, the Back to School night was really good for them to get in their classrooms, see their teachers again, and get a feel for it.  The best, however, and what they were really really looking forward to, was a blessing from Jacob.  What a gift it is to have a wonderful Daddy who loves his kiddos and is always willing and able to use the Priesthood in their (our) behalf.  So so grateful!  They each received a beautiful and very inspired blessing to help ease their concerns and set them up for a great school year.

Kenna is the THIRD GRADER at our house.  Third?  Really?  I'm pretty sure she was just in Kindergarten.  My oldest baby isn't a little child anymore.  She is quickly becoming a young lady.
A beautiful one at that. 

Right behind Kenna is our SECOND GRADER, Miss Allie Rae.  She too has grown so much.  I loved Kenna's second grade teacher from last year, but was glad Allie has someone new this year.  Sometimes they are more like twins- so it's good they get to forge their own paths and not have everything the same.  Another beauty!

Don't forget Ty who is beyond excited for PRESCHOOL this year!  It's a different preschool from last year and he doesn't get to ride the bus anymore, but he doesn't seem to mind one bit.  He gets so excited when one of his preschool days rolls around.  This little dude loves Spiderman.  I have no idea where he got that from.  Nor do I have any idea where he got his love for Wonder Woman.  Ya, he was really hoping for a Wonder Woman backpack.  Spiderman was only second choice.  I much prefer a man clothed head-to-toe who can spin webs from his fingertips over a woman doing backflips in boots and a half inch of clothing.  Just sayin'.

 
Don't forget our caboose, Missy Lou.  I don't think she'll complain that she gets a couple of hours a week with Mom all to herself!  Mom's not complaining about the situation either.  So fun to have some time with just she and I.  Even if she is one determined little lady.  She can do everything.  By herself.  Thankyouverymuch.             


We expect to have a great and successful school year!  We at least are off to a great start. 

Allie's 7th Birthday

In case there is any question in the matter, my kids L.O.V.E their birthdays!  The older they get, the more they love them.  Allie was no exception this year as she anticipated the big 7.

A few weeks before the big day she would (daily, if not multiple times a day) go through the list of all the things she wanted to do for her birthday.  The following list is not necessarily exhaustive, mind you:

-go bowling
-go to the Maverik to get a treat
-go swimming at the aquatic center
-go to IFA to pick out a toy and look at the bunnies
-go to the movies
-go to lunch at Jimmy Johns
-have an ice cream cake
-have a cookout with some friends
-have a birthday party
-get a Hello Kitty balloon

Can't blame her for her ambition!  Needless to say, we had to chisel a few (most) things off the list.  For her birthday afternoon, she and I headed into town for a Mommy/Allie date.  She found a new doll toy/dress kit for her gift and used some birthday money to buy some new shoes.  We ate lunch at Jimmy Johns- she has been wanting to go forever!  The date ended with a stop at Dairy Queen to pick up an ice cream cake (yes, I had an easy out and took it).

Later that night we went down to the farm to celebrate with some friends who were visiting from California- Tina, Tyler, and Dulsa.  The night was complete with a cookout, riding horses and 4-wheelers, and eating cake.  It ended up being a perfect night, we had a really good time.

We love our Allie Gal!  Allie tends to come across as very shy and reserved at first, but we know her as our very spunky and hard working little girl.  Lately she has been doing a great job learning how to ride a horse and has really been enjoying it.  We're excited to see how she learns and grows this upcoming year.  The countdown to our 2nd baptism is on!

July

In a nutshell, July was great.

The end.

Oh fine, I'll give a little more detail.

We spent the weekend of the 4th camping up at Brian Head with neighbors.  It was so beautiful and green up there.  We had a lot of fun despite 2 days of on-and-off hail and rain.  We definitely utilized the heater in the trailer!

Enjoying some fireworks:

For some reason long forgotten, Kenna managed to get really mad at Mom and decided to run away.  Thankfully even though she had her bag packed, she decided against it.  But her runaway note was the most endearing note yet from my oldest little lady.  Definitely a keeper for her book of remembrance.  Here it is:

  "I am going to run away 

and I am not coming back!!!!

Your unloving unloved

Daughter

Kenna

xoxoxo

Just in case I miss you!"

It's hard to say exactly what my favorite part of this letter is.  The part where she scratched out "unloving" and replaced it with "unloved" is so very sweet.  Maybe the very end takes the cake, though.  In very small letters she just has to add "xoxoxo Just in case I miss you!"  How sweet is that?  This just melted me!  Kenna has such a tender little heart.  Golly I love that little girl.

The middle of July we headed back up north for an Otte Family reunion up at Bear Lake.  My parents, siblings, and us all put in together to rent a condo.  A condo that just happened to be a short 1/2 block straight up from La Beau's.  Ya, you do the math on that one.  We had SO MUCH FUN!  We laughed, ate, swam, water skied, water weenied, played, and just enjoyed the whole weekend.  It has been since last Thanksgiving since we were all together and I just ate up every last minute.  The condo was perfect and the company was even better.  We attempted a trip to Minnetonka Cave, but the 4 hour wait was a little too much.

This little gem of sweetness was everybody's snuggle bug for the weekend.  Love me a new little nephew!  I think Grandpa is a fan, too:

Don't necessarily love me a new snake, however:

At the beach:

Kenna:  hated the water weenie, loved the shallows.
Allie:  loved the boat and the water weenie, but got a little nervous when mom was out in the water skiing. 
Ty:  hated the boat.  Stuck to the shallows just like big sis.
Lexi:  another one to stick in the shallow water.
Dad:  awesome boat driver and also dipped in the water to ski a little bit.
Mom:  managed to get up on the skis, but also managed to throw her back out in the process.  She wasn't happy.  But when your sister is a nurse, she brings a bucket full of great things.   A shot of a strong anti-inflammatory in the rear end works wonders.  Just sayin'.


Grandpa works his magic on his amazing homemade ice cream:

Cousin love:

 

 Nothing like the cheering on the Primary kids in a good old-fashioned hometown parade for the 24th of July:

Every mighty pirate needs a mighty pirate sword!  Good thing this little mighty pirate has a great Daddy who created him a super sword.  Too bad this matey beats on his sisters with said sword and it gets taken away.  Frequently.

When it comes to summer vacations, this is the best way to travel:

The first one is Ty holding his helicopter from the air show down in St. George.  He and Dad went down to watch while mom and the girls did some back-to-school shopping.  After a few hours he was pooped so they didn't actually stick around the watch the Blue Angels fly.  Oh well!

And that is July.  In a nutshell.  A very large nutshell.

Birthday Boy

We made it home in time from Logan to celebrate Ty's 4th birthday!  This little dude was beyond excited for his birthday.  A few months before his big day he kept asking, daily, if he was "this many yet" while he held up four fingers.

Finally, the big day came!  He decided on having a soccer cake.  Just indulge me in saying it turned out awesome!

There are always helpers around these here parts when there are gifts to be opened:

Our now four year-old mighty pirate:

We love you Ty Man and all you add to our family!!  You do a great job holding your own as the only boy in the clan.  

Summer Trip to Logan

We decided to make good use of our summer vacation by heading up north to visit family.

First stop was in Salt Lake to visit Aunt Steph and Uncle Matt.  The girls don't get to see their cousins all that often, so it was fun to let them have time to play together.  And of course that means bedtime is a nightmare.  But hey, it's summer, right?

While up there, we decided to spend a day at Hogle Zoo.

Crowd favorite:

Someday they will leave the nest:

Not quite sure why Ty has sequestered himself from the herd:

Lexi and Ty digging the Polar Bear Exhibit:

Lovin' the train ride:

Cooling off at the giant rolling water ball thingermajigger before we decide to call it a day:

It was HOT.  So hot that most of the animals went into a heat induced coma.  We pretty much walked from one sleeping animal to another.  But, all in all it was still a great day.

After the zoo, we headed up to spend the rest of the week in Logan/Smithfield, where, it seems, my picture taking fizzled out.  I only have a handful from the week, but we had a lot of fun!

Between the two grandparents houses we went swimming with our new cousins Kloe and Mitch, went to the movies, had a weenie roast, and just played our little hearts out.

Here are some fav's:

This one is at Grandma Shelly's house.  Ty was watching the ipad in Grandma's front room.  I went in to check on him and found a little pile of leaves on the floor.  When I asked him why they were on the floor he said, "They were tickling me."  Well of course.  Why not just pick off the leaves instead of scooting over?  Ha!

This last picture is my favorite favorite favorite.  While I was up there my Grandpa Otte was also staying with my parents for the week.  The absolute highlight of the trip was one night when I sat down for an hour or two with a notebook writing down all the family history I could get out of my Grandpa and Dad.  Those few pages of notes are absolutely priceless to me.  He and my Grandmother are two of the most highly regarded people in my life.  Oh how I wish I could have more!

We (I) came home exhausted, but it was a great trip.  We were all more than happy to see Daddy again!  I think it's safe to say the feeling was mutual.