July Already?

In case you've wondered where we've been the last month - see here: http://www.landcruiserchronicles.blogspot.com/

We also went to St. G-

Father's Day - St. George Temple.












And Abby - SIX MONTHS!

Five Months...and Six Years

So, it's been a while, but here's our bit of an update...

Abby is now five months old! Still a growing girl, she's decided to (finally) roll over, has cut two teeth on the bottom and her daily drool output tells us she's working on the two on the top, and she's decided sitting up is for the birds - I want to CRAWL! She is still our little Abby Kate - with the sweetest smile!


The boys continue to prove my daily handful. Will decides every coupla days to "potty train" which usually involves removing his diaper himself at what must be the single most inconvenient time of my day. Like when I'm on the phone, or making lasagna, or mopping. You know, when it's difficult to put down what I'm doing and chase the streaker. Jake is my big boy and my big helper. This morning while they watched their cartoons, Jake laid down on the floor next to Abby and just held her hand while they watched tv. Too cute. He's still making stuff up, including new, never before seen signs in sign language. (Sam is actually learning sign in school and uses real sign. Jake just makes them up to serve his own purposes.)

And Sam. Turning 6 on Sunday, Sam just finished kindergarten. He got the "Super Friend" award and his teacher told me that in her 20+ years of teaching she's never had a student as polite as Sam. Enjoy the video of his class signing and singing Happy Birthday - that's his teacher, Mrs. Pond.

what did you get your wife for mother's day?

Many people asked Steve this question when he arrived at church on Mother's Day without his family. He answered: "I let her take all four of the kids to St. George for the weekend."

And it's true. We spent Mother's Day (the kids and I) with my grandparents in St. George and we had a fabulous time! The kids discovered a new park and Grandma and Papa got to meet Abby. The car trips (going and coming) were not nearly as bad as they could have been, thanks in part to Abby's overall good nature and the effect of Jenny Oaks Baker on her - calms her right down! God bless Jenny Oaks Baker.

Below are some pics of the kids with Grandma and Papa - playing tic-tac-toe and marbles.

junk drawer

Okay, it's been a while since the last post, but, in my defense, my week blew up last week. It started late Sunday evening with a call from the office that turned into be pulling out some pretty intense hours in only a few short days.

Be that as it may, we'll start from Easter and work our way forward. Easter was pretty low-key at Casa Bunker. We don't Easter Bunny, but we had a special Family Home Evening (on Sunday morning, I know, we're weird) on Easter. When asked the question "why doesn't the Easter Bunny come to our house?" I simply answered, "because Mom called him and asked him not to come." My kids are little, this is working for now. Next year, they'll probably ask me where I found his phone number.

Anyways, so Easter I dressed the kids up and attempted to take pictures. (They follow, don't worry, but hold on.) We're out in the front by the tulips (those bad boys have had a tough go - 70's, snow, 70's, snow, repeat.) So Will doesn't want to take pictures, he's two, do you blame him? The only time he wants his picture taken is when I'm trying to pose Abby. Anyways. So, he decides in the middle of the "shoot" that he's had ENOUGH of pictures and takes off running down the street.

We interrupt this story to mention that my neighbor a few houses down fertilized his grass the day before Easter. He used REAL fertilizer. You know, the kind that comes out of the south end of an animal. Yeah. Nice.

We rejoin our story with Will tearing off down the street toward said fertilized yard. Now, anyone who knows Will knows that if you chase him he runs faster AND that if he runs faster he is at any moment going to fall down. probably face first. Are you getting the visual here?

So here's Mommy trucking after Will shouting, NO!! As I see him giggle with the joy of the chase, heading straight for, to put it bluntly, a yard full of crap. Thankfully, he took his header about three inches before the yard and I grabbed him before he nose dived (in his church clothes). PHEW!

So, pictures commenced for a few more minutes and then we finished getting ready for church and Sam, Jake, and I went to choir. We're about to go into the chapel to practice when someone pulls the fire alarm. I must say that in my almost 30 years as a church member I have never experienced that. So we had choir practice outside while my kids camped out to "keep watch" by the fire trucks.

Life has progressed steadily since then, with Steve taking finals, Sam having spring break, us registering the kids for soccer, Abby teething, etc. Now, since you've been so patient, here's the pictures and some funnies for each of the kids. Much love, MDB
SAM
Down to only the last month of school, Sam has recently come home decorated with Farrer Elementary PE Student of the Year for his kindergarten class. He got a big purple ribbon he's very proud of. I think after this photo shoot I've decided he's too big for the "potty stool." But notice his untied shoes - this is their perpetual state - and what's left of the oh-so-gnarly bruise on his right cheek. He fell in the shower two weeks ago and is still getting over it. When it first happened it looked like he'd been bludgeoned in the face with a 2x4. This is the only picture from the day where he doesn't look like he's being pinched. Will calls Sam "ding-dong" which is short for "Sam-a-lama-ding-dong." Thank you, Uncle Ryan.


JAKE
When I asked Jake recently how he knew something, he answered seriously, "Because I'm smart." I confirmed that, yes, he was, and he added, "I'm even smarter than the bear on tv, Mom." (Referring to Special Agent Oso the bear on the Disney Channel. I think Will is probably smarter than the bear on the tv, hence we've stopped watching that show.) Jake finally decided he likes his new primary teachers - Michelle and Brother Michelle. (They are lovely people and I think they have a last name and Brother Michelle is actually Preston.) His most commonly used phrase of the day is "I'm hungry" followed directly by "Mom, I think I'm going to skip my nap." He has also learned to say "Dang-it" with the same emphasis as the person who taught him to say it. Thank you, Uncle Joe.

WILL
You can tell by the look in his eyes he's going to bolt, can't you? Will runs from the moment he gets up until the moment he collapses in bed - usually under duress. He's obsessed with busses and since about 100 school busses go down our street everyday and we're in a city with three times that many city buses, I spend a great deal of my day nodding and saying, "yes, a bus." Or, yes, a helicopter. Or, yes, an airplane. Or, yes, the garbage man. I think I can safely say we've got transportation covered. He also says bandit when he means band-aid and whenever he sees someone without a shirt on (like runners/bikers) he yells NUDE-Y BOOD-Y! Which is, you know, fun, when the topic of dicussion can hear him. And oddly enough the words stinky and cookie sound a lot alike. I'll let you ponder that one.

ABBY
Okay, this face just makes my day. I don't know how I won the baby lottery, but I did. This girl is the sweetest baby who sleeps practically on-command. She is ready with a smile, even when she's tired or hungry - which is funny sometimes because she's crying and then you talk to her and she starts to smile and then she remembers she's mad and forces herself to cry again. My most commonly used phrase around Abby is "I've got SOOOOOO much honey, the bees envy me. I've got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees. I guess, you say, what can make me feel this way? ABBY!" I painted her toenails now that it's warmer. Now she can have cute feet, since she won't keep socks on. I swear, she has 20 left socks.

And finally, the gang.
PS, Daddy took this picture, which is why the VAN and not the tree/flowers is in the background. Don't we have a very nice van?

the new columbo: two boys and a fridge

Okay, so our fridge is a little bit broken. I know, I know, how can something be a little bit broken? Easy. It's not dead. If it was dead it would be all broken. It's not. It's fixable. Potentially. Maybe. So it's little bit broken.

As such, we've moved everything from the little bit broken fridge in the kitchen to the totally fine (and much bigger and nicer fridge) in the garage. Life goes on. Kind of pain when you're pouring a bowl of cereal though. Steve unplugged the inside fridge to maybe relieve some of it's brokenness and maybe restore it to life while we wait for the landlord to come "have a look."

Why can't we just move the outside fridge inside, you ask? Good question. Here's the answer: the inside fridge is a transplant from Munchkinland. It has to be because of the giant (and totally useless) cabinet that hangs over it. The standard American-sized fridge in the garage won't fit under the cabinet. Have I mentioned it's useless?

Why can't my oh-so-handy husband remove said useless cabinet and bring in the good fridge? Also a good question. Here's the answer - because the cabinet has fused with the wall. Since it's been here since the house was built, it was probably built into the wall. I wouldn't know how to take it down and Steve looks up at it, shakes his head, and says, "it's not my house."

So, an empty, open-doored fridge in the kitchen is bound to spark childhood curiosity. Detectives Sam and Jake are looking into the fridge to identify what exactly is making the fridge broken.

And here's a delighfully random video clip of the boys' looking for clues, pondering the evidence (with a banana and a Star Wars X-wing fighter in hand - of course!), and posing a hypothesis. Hope you enjoy the "AH-hA!" moments as much as I did.

when life gives you dirt

Everyone has heard the expression: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I've got one better:

when life gives you dirt - grab the hose and dance in the mud!
Enjoy the following slideshow of Sam, Jake, Will, neighbor Libby, and cousin Caroline.

God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt, right?

Note: I have not included the truly horrifying pictures of my kitchen en route to my bathroom. It's better to enjoy the mud and not the clean up - eh? I would. But I'm the mother...I guess I get - when life gives you mud, you find the soapy water, and quick!

abby kate and her bff

In most texting short hand, BFF would be best friend forever.

In Abby's case, it's "big freakin' flower." Daddy thinks it might be too big - it is almost the same size as her head - but you have to admit, it's pretty cute.

She's afraid of the flash, so I have to turn it off - which leads to fuzzy pictures. Plus, this morning only Jake could make her smile- that's why she's looking at him and not the scary silver box. The last picture (with the flash on) show's how blue her eyes are - still!

Enjoy!