Where's the Hotel???

Most of my blog consists of random things my kids say or do that make me laugh. Just a few days ago, my husband, two sons, and I took off for a small vacation. Our plan was to go to St. George and escape the colder weather for a few days. Karter was tremendously excited to go swimming in the hotel with his new swimsuit (which is two sizes too big for him). We drove up, checked in and headed for the outlet stores first (my pants are two sizes to big for ME). The entire time, Karter was asking when we could go back to the hotel and swim. Sadly, it had started to rain. However, making good on our promise, we all got in our suits, and ran for the "swimming pool" (really the hot tub) where we sat and stared at each other. Jace was so exhausted all he could do is cry but we were there and life was good. If Karter had his way, we would have stayed in the hotel all day to swim, eat, and watch tv (why in the world would we want to sit there and watch tv when we can do that at home?)



The next morning, we all got up and took off to see Zion's National Park. This is such a majestic and beautiful place! The weather was perfect; partly sunny, 60ish degrees. Upon entering the park, the entrance booth gave us a map. We were looking at the map and planning the daily activities when Karter said, "Hey mom, can I see the map?" I promptly handed the map back to Karter to which he studied it for a second and said, "So, where is our hotel on this map?" We all laughed but this little question became the theme for the day as we were plagued with the same question every 5 seconds: "When do we get to go back to the hotel?"

After a few hours of this, I finally lost it and told Karter that if he said that ONE MORE TIME, I was going to spank him. To this he VERY quietly muttered, "I just want to know when we are going back to the hotel."



A short while later we decided to go on an easy hike. The trail guide said the trail was paved and handicap accessible...I can do handicap accessible...I thought. Everything was going fine until we got halfway through the trail. I was wearing my newly acquired pants that fit (finally!) and my newish shoes. I don't get new clothing for myself very often so I was feeling a bit protective of the conditions of said items. As we got to the halfway point of the loop, a beautiful waterfall was cascading down the rocks. Some of it had frozen at the bottom. We looked at it's beauty and moved on. Suddenly the ground started to get very sticky. The more we walked, the more I noticed that the ground was mostly red, sticky, gooey, mud. This was delightful to my four-year-old boy (whose hand I was holding at the time to keep him from falling). He slopped and splashed around in the mud and had a great time. I was particularly concerned for my new shoes...they were getting VERY dirty (especially with all the sloshing my son was doing around me). Kel was just trying to push the stroller through the muck. I finally gave up and told everyone we were going to turn around and go back. This disappointed Karter. He had finally gone more than five minutes without asking when we were going to go back to the hotel. Dad and Karter decided to go just a little farther while I waited there with Jace and his muddy stroller.




Karter continued to slosh around and get dirty. He even intentionally tried "falling" in the mud. This went on until he came back and smeared red mud all over my coat. I'd had enough so I said, "Karter, if you don't stop sloshing in the mud, the hotel workers aren't going to let you back in the hotel." This sobered him up quite a bit. Red mud suddenly became death and he panicked trying to get the stuff off of him. He fell a half a dozen more times and it was suddenly a HUGE deal.



When we finally got back to the car, I got the baby wipes out and tried to repair some of the damage. I told Karter to keep his feet off the back of my seat or I would be "One mad momma." As I worked, Karter kept chanting, "Mad mommmmmma, maaaaaad mommmma." We were able to get a significant amount off of Karter however his question all the way back to the hotel had changed to, "will they let me in the hotel with all this mud on me?"

Lightening: The Failed Fish

Let me preface this story by saying that I grew up with fish. They were mine. I think I had dozens and lost dozens and never felt to bad when they died. I was always afraid of them and dad had to clean my tank out always. I used to have a tiny frog in my tank. I would always hurry to put the food in the tank because I was afraid he would jump out.

Anyway, I couldn't understand my husband's reaction when Karter was given a fish for his birthday. It was, "Oh NO...Here we go." Karter was delighted with it (especially when we took the bowl up to his room). Kel relinquished all responsibility to me. I was going to clean the bowl, feed the fish, etc. So on Sunday night we were getting the kiddos ready for bed. Kelly comes in Jace's room and whispers in my ear, "uh, Lightening is belly up." I told him he had better tell Karter and this is what I hear from Jace's room:

Kel: "Karter, what is Lightening doing?"
Karter: "I don't know dad...why isn't he moving?"
Kel: "He's dead."
Karter: "I don't want my fishy to be dead."

Then we proceed to tell him that fishies get flushed down the toilet when they are dead. So far so good. I haven't seen the destroyed face of my 4-year-old. As I turn the corner to help with the "burial process." I see my little boy, standing over the toilet, looking down at his fish, shoulders hunched and head down. This breaks my heart. I tell him he has to flush so his fishy can go to fishy heaven. He flushes but leaves his hand on the handle of the toilet for a long time. Then, he walks over to me and cuddles me and once again, says, "Mommy, I don't want my fishy to be dead." This brings the tears for me and I spend the rest of the night bawling my eyes out that my son felt the pain of losing something.

Ten minutes later he was perfectly fine. But before he fell asleep that night he said, "Hey daddy? Do you think Auntie Nati has another fish somewhere?" To which we both reply with an emphatic "NO!"

My Singing Boy

Karter has been around singing all his life. On one occasion I was teaching a voice lesson and my student got this really weird look on her face and said, "I think someone is singing." My son was echoing warm-ups after the student sang them. He has learned a few songs which are his favorite. He found an attachment to the vaccuum...it is now his microphone and the world is his stage!

The first favorite is a song from a Spongebob episode. Spongebob is singing to a Krabby Patty in this episode. The Krabby Patty was so beautiful that he could not allow the customer to eat it and started dating it. The lyrics are as follows, "Oh Baby, they may call me a fool, but I can't help our gravitational pull. When I stuff you with cotton candy, it reminds me you're so sweet. When we go riding it's dandy how you hang on to your seat. Baby. You're looks are sweeter than honey from your pickles to your buns it ain't even funny."



Another of Karter's favorites is the "builder song" from primary. I can't for the life of me figure out why this has become one of his favorites. Of all the primary songs, this one got on my nerves but he loves it and we sing it over and over. He combines this with the classic ABC song which goes as follows: H,I,J,K,L,M (gibberish)O,P, Q,CAR,S...etc. too fun! Of course...we have to end with the obligatory "Doodlie ooom boom." We had given him hot chocolate and he was pinging off the walls but sometimes it is just fun to sit back and marvel at the sheer energy coming out of the kid.



Kelly has taken it upon himself to teach Karter a Beatles song: "You never give me your money. You only give me your funny paper. And in the middle of negotiations, you break down. Outta college, money spent, see no future, pay no rent. All the money's gone, no where to go."



LOL. My little singer.

My Jace man...

Sunday afternoons are rapidly becoming my favorite time with my two little boys and my hubby...well for a while longer. I love to spend the time playing with them. Last Sunday, we caught Jace in a particularly good mood...and Kel was fast enough at grabbing the camera. Jace has quite the ticklish spots...



I personally think that there are few sounds sweeter than a baby laughing...and I am a little partial to my little man's laugh...

Surgery day for Karter

Last Monday, we took Karter to get his tonsils and adenoids removed. He also got tubes in his ears. My biggest fear was how to deal with a fearful preschooler before a surgery. Our discussions of the surgery went something like this: "Karter, you're going to get your tonsils out. The doctor will take you and you will fall asleep. When you wake up, you can have all the popsicles, ice cream, and slurpees you want without having to eat dinner first. Won't this be exciting? Oh, and you might have a little sore throat after." The nurse gave Karter these scrubs to wear and the no-slip green (his favorite color) socks. He was pretty excited about these and that made the pre-surgery exam a lot easier.


After the pre-exam, Karter got to go play with toy cars in the hallway. Primary Children's Hospital is a great place for kids! He had a blast playing with all the toys.


The nurse asked if he was a typically nervous boy for doctors (flashback to his last dr appt.....screaming, tears, random mutterings, sounds of a person being killed, etc.) which I told her he was. She said she could give him "versed" a drug that will help him relax but that he would either have to be held or put in one of their wagons afterward because it makes patients pretty loopy. Having never seen my son like that, I couldn't imagine him any loopier than he already is...boy, was I wrong. Here in the first video, you can see it start to take effect in his eyes although he still has his wits about him.



By now, Karter is having a difficult time holding up his head but still pretty sane. Daddy is getting a few weird looks because he is filming a slightly loopy child.



Karter and dad came back to see me and I decided that he should probably be held since he was so tipsy. The fascination with the green socks was priceless. All he wanted to do was stare at his green socks...luckily they got to come home with us.



This last one was about as crazy as he got. Poor little guy is so content! He was trying to show dad the dinosaur he was holding but couldn't quite lift it enough. We felt pretty bad for him but were grateful that he wasn't screaming and crying in fear the whole time.



We are glad that the surgery is over with and the recovery has been rough but hopefully it will help this winter so Karter isn't on a steady diet of antibiotics. It wasn't all that fun but we will be glad we did it....hopefully!

Camping fun!

The boys and I went camping last week. It was a lot of fun! Grammy had a "fun bag" for Karter and Isaac. In their fun bag was this head flashlight. Uncle Coultie, Kenny, Eric, and Isaac had one too. they all looked pretty nerdy but they came in handy on what I call, "the walk of desperation" to the restroom at 3 AM.


On one of the days we decided to hike to Taggart Lake. It was labelled "easy" so I figured I could easily get my out-of-shape self there and back despite it being 3.5 miles. We didn't have a stroller so we put my sling on so I could carry Jace up. I thought, "Hey, he's only 13 or 14 pounds, how hard could it be?" My very positive and gleeful mother is dancing in the background of this picture. We were both clinging to the "easy" label.


Uncle Kenny carried Karter on his shoulders practically the entire way. He's a soccer player...what else can I say? I guess I should take up a sport like that because this is what happened partially through the hike...


We didn't think we were going to make it! So some skinny, in-shape granola girl comes by and said that we only had about 10 minutes until the lake...okay, I thought I could handle that. Ten minutes, sure, for and in-shape person without a kid strapped to the front! It was probably another mile before we got there! The hike was beautiful but I have GOT to get in better shape next time I decide to strap my baby on the front of me for a hike...



Anyway, everyone had a ball just hanging out. Karter especially loved playing in the dirt with Isaac and throwing rocks in the lake. I just miss the cooler weather during the day!

Two peas in a pod...

I finally gave in and got a blog. I don't think it will be of too much interest to anyone other than my family but I look forward to using my brain for something other than how to get Jace out of his most recent blowout. However, I find myself truly blessed with two beautiful boys that keep me growing every day. I never fully comprehended what it was to love someone you serve until I became a mother. I often find myself laughing through the day at the cute things they do. My father says I should write them down but I've not taken the time to do so...hopefully I will on my new blog! The most recent cutism came from Karter. He walked in the room cradling the air with his arms. "What do you have there?," I asked. "This is my baby," He replied. "Oh, I see, what's his name?," I said. "This is Twinkle Moon Star but I call him Luke for short." To this, dad raised his eyebrows and commented on the feminity of the name. We all had a good laugh but I am glad to see a tender side to my little preschooler.