Another Camp Out and Other Fun Stuff

James and the boys went on their first Father/Son camp out with our Stake. It was a big deal for them to have this time together. With James' previous schedule and his lack of fatherly activities as a child, he was very excited to take his boys on this camp out. This camp out is held every year to celebrate the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in May of 1829. James said that it was neat sitting around the camp fire, hearing men of different ages bear their testimonies and share their thoughts about this celebration. Him and the boys spent the night cuddled up in the back of our van. Needless to say they came home very tired. I think they'll be taking a tent and separate sleeping bags next time!

Savanna, Emma and I enjoyed another girl's night and a Saturday to ourselves. We ended up driving to Solvang and hitting up the dollar a yard fabric store. I bought some fabric to make curtains for our kitchen windows, and Savanna bought 13 yards of fabric to make herself some new dresses. We have some very talented friends that are helping us with our creative aspirations. Savanna has been very excited about fashion and making her own clothing. She has diverted her goals from architecture and interior design, and now hopes to one day start her own clothing line featuring an array of modest, but chic, dresses. What a great time in her life to be able to dabble here and there and find out what she really loves! I think she will always enjoy architecture and will have a blast decorating her future homes, but she has also found a new love in handwork and crafts. She has been spending her mornings doing her math, scripture study, piano, writing, and history and then spends all afternoon sewing, or making headbands or other decorative items (she just learned to make flowers, like the pink one above, from fabric liner). It is so fun to watch her plow into learning and be full of passion.

One of Savanna's headbands.

Don't you love her model?

Due to some great examples, I have decided to start running! I have never ran for any length of time in my life, but I love the idea of building the strength and endurance necessary for distance running. I found this great program called The Couch-to-5k Running Plan

(http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml). It is a 2 month training plan that helps someone go from a couch potato to running a 5k. I am on my second week of training. It is hard, but very rewarding. Savanna started training with me as well. We hope to do a 5k together some time in the Fall.

Our little garden in pots is growing great! We've been harvesting lettuce and even a few blueberries. Our tomato plant and cucumber plant are going crazy. No fruit yet, but soon. We started a bunch of kale from seeds indoors and they are just about ready to move outdoors. We'll have lots of yummy veggies and fruits by summer!

Our Butter Leaf Lettuce

Our Blueberries

Our Tomatoes

May 5 - 17, 2011

Mothers and Mother's Day

Last week we celebrated Mother's Day. My husband was actually home, so that made it wonderful right there. The boys sang in church, I received flowers and gifts, and was made a lovely lunch and dinner. Plus, I asked James to do a bunch of handy man stuff around the house for me (had to milk that day for all it was worth)! It was a fabulous day. Too bad I have to wait another year to have a day off!

A couple days later I had a wonderful visit from my mother and aunt. My mom, knowing me so well, brought me a huge jar of pickles (which is almost gone already)! While she was here she made us wonderful meals, entertained the children, and brought Benjamin all of his birthday gifts. It was very relaxing and fun. :)

His loot: clothes, Legos, a Lego tote, a belt...did I forget anything?

Our favorite gift: I think this was made for Ben!

Oh, and I have to show off the cool spice rack James bought me. It's seriously neat! A must have for high cabinets and average-sized cooks (notice I said "average," not short!).

Voila!

May 8 - 11, 2011

Almost 9 Months- How the Time Flies!

Our little Emma Leigh is growing by leaps and bounds. She can pull herself up on furniture, is moving all over the place, and will be crawling any day. Again, we are so not ready for this next adventure. We are in need of some serious baby proofing- baby gates, outlet plugs, the works! I haven't wanted to think about it, but it is time...this Saturday we'll be making some changes!

Her second tooth is almost through! We've been trying several more fruits, but she is not interested in eating at all. She'll take a couple bites, spit most of it out, and then she is done. I'm not worried. She is nursing around the clock, and is growing and healthy. I'll keep offering her food, and she'll eat when she needs to!

Now that her teeth are through the gums, she is back to her cute, content self. She is extremely busy though. She is not happy for long in any of the stationary objects we've been using the last few months. Twenty minutes tops and she wants to be out and about. She will grab anything and everything within her reach. She still doesn't put anything in her mouth, which I love, but she will rip, smash, bang, or mutilate it!

She makes this funny face lately where she sticks out her tongue. Sometimes she'll even suck on her upper lip- so funny.

Here she is doing that cute baby rocking on all fours. Like I said, any day and it's over for us. She is busy, busy, busy. A little tornado is a coming!

She was very proud of herself one morning because she was able to grab the cord and pull her monitor camera off the wall. She is lucky it didn't knock her in the head! We have since moved the crib away from the wall.

Here she is standing up in her crib. James had to lower the mattress last night. She is now impossible to put to bed. She just stands right up and peers over the bars of her crib. If I am in the room (like when I'm sleeping) she will coo and yell until I pick her up. If we leave, she will eventually lay down and go to sleep, but it sometimes takes awhile.

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Here she is with her Daddy sticking her little tongue out again. Oh, we are more in-love every day!

May 5 - 17, 2011

Dancing Kings

The boys have recently discovered Savanna's High School Musical CDs. They LOVE dancing to them. Here are a few clips of their hip moves!

May 9, 2011

Hikes, Swings, & Stories

Wow, it has been a full couple of weeks on the Wyett front. I will have to do a quick recap because it is late, I haven't eaten dinner yet, and I need to get to bed!

A few last pics from Easter. We had this confetti egg kit. The boys found all the eggs and then we kicked them outside to throw them at each other. James got involved and it was all downhill from there!

Here is our pretty princess on her first Easter. The boys sang beautifully in Sacrament, and then we came home, took naps, and went to the park for the afternoon with Marley. It was a relaxing and simple Easter.

Emma is getting so strong. She can really sit up well by herself now and loves to play with her toys. She constantly flips herself over onto her tummy and scoots around. She will be crawling any day, and we are so not ready! I dread the first time she falls on this horrible tile. I'm thinking of getting that ghetto indoor/outdoor carpet and just putting scraps everywhere. Not sure it would help much though, and it would get covered in dog hair!

We spent the afternoon in Avila on Monday. We walked the Bob Jones Trail and ended up on the beach for several hours. It was really hot, but the kids had a blast.

We sent this picture to James to try to get him to come meet us at the beach after work. It didn't work. Heartless...how could anyone with a heart refuse those faces??

Emma is usually a very happy girl...like this:

But lately, she has been more like this:

We discovered that she has not one, but two teeth coming in at the same time. Her two bottom front teeth. One is finally through, but the other one is giving her a heck of a time. Poor gal.

One thing that always cheers her up is a ride on the swings. She LOVES the swings, and I love to watch her in them. We take her to the park at least twice a week to swing her. I really want to get a small swing set for the backyard with a baby swing. I wish they weren't so darn expensive! You know I'm looking on craigslist- I will find one eventually!

Swinging with Daddy.

Who's having more fun here? Hard to tell.

Her brothers love pushing her. They get a little crazy sometimes, but she seems to like it!

Bradley reads to his younger siblings a lot. I caught him giving Benjamin a reading lesson the other morning. It was the cutest thing. I love how Bradley edifies Ben after each correct word.

Last week was James' final week working at the jail. He is now on a normal Monday through Friday schedule and works 8 to 4 at the courthouse. It is awesome! I love having him home early every night, and it was more than wonderful to have him at a church with us on Sunday. During his few days off last week he took the kids on a 4 mile hike up a mountain in San Luis. They had such a great time. I didn't get any pictures, but he did send me this video.

We also had two book colloquium meetings at our home last week. The youth discussed the first Harry Potter book, and us adults discussed a non-fiction book, The Fourth Turning. I look forward to our book discussion every month. I love meeting with like-minded adults and having time set aside to field our own thoughts and discuss important issues. This book especially made me think about events going on in the world, and my responses to them based on my generation and "turning." Their theory is that there are four turnings that consistently happen over and over again, like the cycle of the seasons. We are currently experiencing a fourth turning, a crisis period or Winter. During this turning there exists unrest, and old things die away and must make way for a rebirth of sorts or a Spring. I am looking forward to that. There are a lot of changes that need to be made, and I am ready.

April 24- May 4, 2011

Happy Birthday to Ben!

Our gorgeous Benjamin turned six last Friday. Benjamin is such a joy to have in our home. He is funny and cute, and always entertaining! He still has that cute little boy accent. He adores his big brother and trails after him all day long, but certainly can stand on his own two feet if necessary. Right now Benjamin is super excited about painting and drawing. Maybe he will be an artist like my Grandpa George. He also loves to tell stories and pretend that he is some kind of superhero or police guy. Yeah he likes to pretend he is a tough guy, but deep down he is a softy. Just walk in on him talking in a high, squeaky voice to Emma calling her his little precious or lover girl- total softy, and totally adorable. Happy Birthday, Ben-Ben. We love you!!

Here he is with all his birthday loot!

Creating another masterpiece- just in time for breakfast. Dad made him his famous omeletts!

For his birthday celebration this year he wanted to ride quads on the sand dunes. Some great friends not only came along with their ATVs, but they brought their trailer and all their gear, and the boys ended up riding quads and camping at the Pismo Beach dunes! Many thanks to the Capanna family, especially Quin and Cole, for their big hearts and great company!

Getting ready for the beach!

Savanna, Emma, and I tagged along for the day on Friday. Emma was a doll, and even took a little nap in the trailer. Savanna had a blast riding the dune buggy and quads. I even went out a couple times, and only got stuck once (and it was Ben's fault- he was totally goading me to go up this big sand hill! I told him we wouldn't make it, but he insisted!! Quin and James had to come rescue us, and I will never live it down!)!

Brad getting ready!

It was really windy. I had to stay inside with Emma for a few hours until the wind died down, but the boys and Savanna put on their goggles and hit the dunes!

Savanna trying out the ATVs.

Dad helping Ben learn how to drive.

It didn't take the boys long before they became very comfortable with riding these things. A little too comfortable! Fortunately James was the only one who ended up bailing, and no big injuries occurred.

Savanna and Ben in the dune buggy.

Bradley's turn.

Playing in the trailer!

The wind finally subsided, and we headed outside! Emma's not too sure about this sand.

And no camping trip is complete without S'mores. This was Ben's first time having a S'more...way better than cake. We even sang to him around the camp fire.

Savanna and I headed home around 8pm on Friday. The boys slept over on the beach and rode quads most of the day Saturday. By the time they were done, Ben was completely exhausted from pure joy and fun. This has to be the greatest picture ever!

April 29 - 30, 2011