My little guy just turned 4!!!

So my little Cannon turned 4 today. He had lots of questions about the day he was born and if he was squished in my belly and if that is why he came out early. He loves the idea that I gave him his belly button and with that a promise to always love him, even when he does something bad. (which seems to happen quite often)
A few weeks ago I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. He told me he wanted a birthday just like last year at Grandma O'Brien's house. He wanted the little 4-wheelers and motorcycles and a pinata. Well I was heartbroken that we wouldn't be at Grandma O'Brien's house (because we all want to be there really) but we did have a pretty good day.
Actually it started the day before his birthday when he got this great card in the mail from his awesome Primary teacher, Sister Fischer. He played with it all day and he has kept it in a special safe place so Lyla couldn't get her hands on it.
It was a beautiful day and the kids went swimming. They are getting pretty brave and now make it about 75 yards out into the lake.
Aunt Jenny and her boys came over for a little dinner party...
Followed by a pinata. Hitting anything with a bat is great for little boys.
Topped off with brownies and ice cream. It was a great day. Plus we got calls from lots of singing family members wishing him a Happy Birthday. He loved it!!!

Summer

Of the many great and exciting things of summer one of my favorite is...

how tired swimming makes kids. Cannon hasn't taken naps for awhile now, but yesterday he swam like crazy in the lake and this is how I found him when I went to get him from "quite time".

Preschool Graduation

Miya and Cannon had their preschool graduation yesterday and they were super excited about it. They loved decorating their caps and practicing the songs they would be singing. Then the time came to put on the caps and Cannon was not happy. First he was not happy about using "girl hair clips" to keep his on (I even brought blue because I thought it might go over better). Second his hair is so short even the clips weren't holding his cap on so then he was mad that it kept coming off. Finally he was not happy about not getting to wear it all day. Luckily they got these really good granola bar/cookie things after the ceremony so his attention quickly shifted. Who said food is not a good bribe/solution to most problems, never had kids of their own!

Tagged

List 3...

*Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

Three Joys
1. Date nights! Anywhere, just get me a babysitter.
2. Beautiful sunny weather
3. Running in the mornings

Three Fears
1. Not getting enough sleep
2. The house when Phil is away in Portland for work
3. Not getting to go home to Driggs this summer

Three Goals
1. Getting all the lawns mowed today. (without to many tears from the kiddos)
2. Finishing the triathlon in August
3. Becoming more organized

Three current obsessions
1. iTunes- I love finding new great songs
2. Being outside in the warm sun
3. reading anything I can get my hands on that was written for someone under the age of 18

Three random surprising facts about me
1. I had a rather intense run of TPing houses with friends in high school. We had a backpack full of toilet paper for all of those spur of the moment jobs.
2. There were only 78 kids in my graduating class in high school. (I loved it)
3. I cannot draw a straight line.

*OKAY! Visitors new and old, if you've read this thing through, consider yourself tagged. Let me know in the comments if you've written your tag on your blog and I'll come check it out.

Finally on #3....

It took two practice kids, but I finally picked up on a few things.


1. 16-month-olds are actually great communicators, it is just in a language I don't really understand!
2. They want to be held, but only when you want them to play while you get something done and never at church during sacrament meeting.
3. The simplest dinners will get the most praise. (Thanks mom for this spaghetti, it is the best dinner I have ever had.)
4. Laundry is a NEVER ending cycle that the smallest one in the family seems to contribute the most to.
5. NOTHING sounds better than all of your kids laughing together! (That is just before the fighting begins all over again.)