Our Summer Away

Well, I can’t believe it has been so long since I have written anything. We spent 2 weeks all together with Robby’s family in Salt Lake and had such a great time. Following that trip the boys and I are currently here in Ithaca, NY for 4 and a half weeks.

We have about one week left. It has been a really great trip to be able to spend so much time with my parents. The boys have not totally been themselves which bummed me out at first. I think just being away from home for so long has been hard on them. But they have really settled in the past week so that has been really nice. I am glad that we have stayed as long as we have so that my parents could see more of their normal selves. I know I won’t be able to do many more long visits home like this so I am really enjoying it. I do miss Robby like crazy. I am super excited to see him, to say the least. We have had a really great time seeing my mom and dad and I will be sad to leave. I absolutely love spending time with them.

I will have to post pics later. I broke my camera taking a movie of George bowling. He decided to high five my hands more aggressively than I had anticipated!

I feel like they have really grown up in a lot of ways since they have been here. I may have two potty trained boys here soon- hopefully. Oliver is currently without diapers and hopefully not turning back. It is going well. Thanks to my mom’s initiative, by the way. My mom is awesome at getting things done. I appreciated the leap of faith she had in his abilities. We will see how it goes. In fact, I have to go sneak in and put a diaper on him while he is sleeping tonight. I mentioned wearing one to bed and he was not happy!

My sweetheart, George

George said to me today, “Mom, when I am a grown up will you still call me sweetheart?” I replied. “Well, I can if you want me to.” He said, “Well, it a little bit sounds like something you would say to a baby.” I asked, “oh, is there something else you want me to call you?” He said, “Ya, how about honey.”

It is funny because I don’t know that I was even aware that I call him that. I was actually quite flattered by the whole conversation. I love it when he tells me things. He is definitely a communicator and it is fun for me. I hope he fills me in about his thoughts for lots of years to come. I won’t expect that but I will hope for sure!

Goodbye “Ping Pong Balls”, hello “Smiley Store”

Well, over the past two years we have had a reward system set up for George where he earns “ping pong balls” (yes, actual ping pong balls) and every time he gets one we put it in a jar.   When he fills the jar to the top he gets a special toy, or we go on a special outing.  This was really successful for us for a long time but over the last 8 months or so has been really on and off.  I think it worked well while he was younger because it was a pretty easy thing to get.  But I think both of us are a little tired of it because I have gone on and off using it for  awhile now.  My sister has been inviting me to switch it up with something new.  Robby and I have been debating for a long while what to do.

Anyway, after much discussion we have landed on something. It is called the “smiley store” and it is one of the biggest hits from Robby’s childhood.  So we have officially decided to copy Robby’s mom’s idea and start one of our own in our family.  At the end of our date on Friday night we went to Target and ransacked the $1.99 isle.  We got all kinds of stuff that in the end I will probably be throwing away when they are not looking because it fits every criteria that drives me nuts, mostly that it is random and doesn’t belong in any “set.”  But when we were checking out we both commented that they were going to flip when they saw everything.  Bright colored plastic toys and treats, how can we go wrong?  In the end, we were wondering why we don’t just do this for Christmas, massive amounts of cheap toys!

So anyway, the deal is that the boys earn smiley’s for doing good things and frowney’s for doing not so good things, or when frankly, they are being stinkers!  At the end of the week we bring out the “smiley store” and we count out their smiley’s and let them “buy”  what they want with their “smiley’s.”

Robby told them the story of Grandma Carol and his “smiley store” when he was little and got the boys super into the idea.   We started yesterday and so far, man alive, it is a hit to say the least!  It is the perfect consequence for squabbling and it is the perfect reward for sharing, saying something nice or picking up your things.  We have been really pleased with it so far and hope to keep it up for a long time.  But like Robby said, who knows how long we will do it for but it totally makes the management of all this disciplining stuff that gets so sticky a little easier for me.  I love it because it is a real concrete consequence I can give so that I can continue to stay calm and connected when they are acting out without feeling the need to get reactive with them.  Which is the key to my own sanity frankly.

So anyway, I am happy to give away my ping pong jar and welcome in the “smiley store!”

Adam’s Graduation

So I just got back from a terrific trip to see my brother graduate from college. Congrats Adam! I am so proud of him. We had so much fun cheering for him and just being all together.  It feel sso great to share experiences with your family.  I felt really lucky to be there for little things, like the tour of his building where he spent all his time.  It was just fun to get a little glimpse of his life there.  It seems he worked pretty hard and I know he is stoked about his adventures ahead. This summer he will be traveling to Brazil before he settles near me to work for Microsoft…. Woohoo!

Anyway, I also had lots of fun chats with Mariss late at night since Lizzie was asleep.  That was definitely a highlight.  I feel like my conversations with her are never very concentrated since my kids are always in the background.  It was also fun to catch up with extended family members I haven’t seen in a long time. Mom and Dad did a great job planning it all for us. It of course was so fun to see them. I love them so much. They rented the van and drove us all around all weekend. It was so fun to be all together. This picture is of me and my brother, Adam and my sister, Marissa. We sure missed Shay. It was so nice to have a trip without my kiddos. I chatted so much with everyone! I was surprised that I actually was ready for a non social day with my kids at home just relaxing! What a great trip. Thanks Mom and Dad for making it so great. And once again, congrats Adam!

Party while Robby is out of town!

This was quite the treat for us.  Grandma Ka came to town the night after Robby left for his 8 day business trip.  She stayed for 5 days!  Making the 5 days she was here the fastest 5 days that have ever passed while Robby was gone.  I couldn’t believe it.  It was a party every day, a sleep over every night.  Robby told me we should do this more while he is gone.  I know that he thinks about me a when he is gone, hoping I am hanging in there ok and I know it was so nice for him to know my Mom was here.  It was honestly the best having her here.  We were out on the town every day and the boys loved it.  The last day she was here began at Deseret book with a huge tantrum from George and I knew that they might be getting a bit tired.  But in general they were super good sports.    The first morning she was here started with an egg hunt that she did for them and she put an "O" on Oliver’s eggs and a "G" on George’s eggs.  They had so much fun. The boys were anxious to show her their scooters she and Papa gave them for Christmas.  So we took them out for a spin.  Mom was able to see how long a simple trip to the park can actually take us.  But they loved showing her their park and tricks.  We also were able to show off the children’s museum with Mom and they made her lots of food in the restaurant and took care of the sick animals at the clinic.  Mom was so darling and really played along.  Mom is always trying so hard to be involved with them.  You can just see that she cares so much.  They really have fun when they are with Grandma Ka, and I especially have fun.  In fact, the night Mom left I laid in bed and thought, "what are we doing here in WA?"  And of course began searching my soul again whether we should have plans to leave here any time soon.  I don’t like to be away from Mom and Dad.  These major life choices, like where to live, are hard ones.  You just hope you can be lead to do what is right for your family.  There really is so much good here as well.  And I am super excited about my brother, Adam, coming in the fall.  Anyway, thanks for such a great trip this month, Mom.  It made March so great!

A Miraculously Quiet Afternoon

I can’t even remember the last time I had both boys napping.  It is too bad the price George had to pay was a temperature of 101 degrees.  I felt really bad for him, but on the other hand, man did I enjoy myself.  Oliver fell asleep while his movie was on and so I carried him up to his bed after I took his picture.  I had 2 hours to myself and I absolutely loved it!  I was able to begin working on my lesson for Sunday.  Actually, if you haven’t had a chance to read the General Conference talk by Elder Oaks called, "Good, Better, Best," you should take the time to read it.  I think anyone in any situation could be inspired by reading it.  It was really motivating to take the time to think about my priorities and the way I choose to spend the free moments I have.  

Seattle Boys

My boys are not used to the sun, with overcast days here definitely being the norm.  The few days when the sun shines super bright, it never fails Oliver looks out the window and says, "Ouch!" as he squints his eyes.  The other day the sun was really shining and the boys wore these sunglasses most the day to help their eyes adapt!  George wore Olivia’s sunglasses that he had borrowed from playing dress-up at her house and hence Oliver borrowed mine since he demands everything that George has.  It was really cute.  I was so happy the picture captured their cuteness.  It is often hard to really capture the moment.

Oliver’s Haircut

This was hilarious because for 20 minutes straight Oliver cried and screamed, "ouch!"  At the exact moment I said, "ok, all done,"  he calmed down to a sniffle and was perfectly fine.  Robby looked at him and said, "Oliver did you like that?"  He looked at Robby and said, "Yes, really fun."    Huh, really?  Hard to believe that was fun for him, but we kept asking him later and he didn’t change his story.  It was really cute.

Happy Birthday to Mama

I had such a great birthday.  My boys were really cute.  They sung to me a lot!  They told me Happy Birthday over and over.  It was darling.  I never had time to forget that it was my birthday.  It is way more fun to have birthdays with toddlers around.  Oh, and Robby did get me my desired ice cream cake with strawberry ice cream and vanilla cake.  Robby was worried that I was setting my expectations too high- that I would be disappointed.  But I am embarrassed to admit that it was exactly what I hoped for.  For some reason I  really love ice cream cake.  It kind of cracks me up.  Anyway, Happy 29th to "Mama"!

Happy 2nd Bithday Oliver

Oliver’s 2nd Birthday

Originally uploaded by ingebretsen

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy. What a joy to be the mom of this gentle, giggly, determined kid. He brings so much joy to our family and we are so grateful for him. We love you, bud.