iPad Crazed

Vance is ADDICTED to the iPad.  It is all he wants to do all day long.  We finally had to set a daily time limit so he would stop asking.  I go back and forth on how long I think is acceptable for a 4-yr-old to play electronics (iPad, computer, Wii).  There are a lot of hours in the day, especially days where we don't have preschool.  What's your opinion?  How long do you think is acceptable?

 That being said, there are some things that I love about the iPad.  I have really discovered a few educational apps that are AMAZING!  My absolute favorite is called Teach Me.  The icon is a little mouse when you search for it in the app store.  They have a version for toddlers, kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade.  BUY THEM ALL!!!  Vance has mastered addition, subtraction, spelling, and lots of sight words because of these apps.  He is halfway through passing off the 1st grade version (he already did toddler and kindergarten).  The best part is he loves playing these apps!

What are you favorite apps (for kids or adults)?

Walking Baby

We finally have a walking baby at our house!  He still looks a little wobbly but is getting better and better everyday.  Keller prefers to hold onto something while he walks even if it's something that doesn't help him balance (hula hoops, balls, etc.)  He gets so proud of himself and looks adorable. 

 He's kind of like a dog playing fetch with the ball. He picks up the ball, throws it, and then goes and gets it.  I don't care as long as it keeps him busy!

 He still has fun pushing the walker around.  I think he likes it because he can go so much faster.

 I feel like walking is when you start to leave baby-land and enter toddler-land.  Keller all of the sudden seems so much older and bigger.  He is showing more and more personality everyday and I absolutely love it.  He gave me a run for my money for awhile, but he's a charmer and wins my heart over everyday! 

He's cute and he knows it so you better watch out ladies.  Keller is coming for you on two feet now!

Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away!

We've had so much fun with all of this rain.  Amy's house always gets flooded when it rains a lot.  We were all hanging out over there and decided to let the boys go play in it.  The cops shut the road down so we didn't have to worry about cars and the rain had stopped so we didn't have to worry about a current at all.  The boys thought it was beyond awesome.  I felt a little ghetto, but I kept telling myself it was okay :)

We've had fun in our own backyard too.  The boys splash in the mud, play in the water puddle, and turn on the hose.  I'm not sure why Vance insists on turning on the hose, but I just roll with it.

Wicked!

I saw Wicked!  It was fantastic, as expected.  It had been a few years since I saw it last, but I was reminded exactly why I originally fell in love with it.  Season tickets to the Smith Center have seriously been the most amazing gift I have ever received.  Chad - you're the best!

Photography: Barkdulls, Ryan, & Maddie

A few pictures from my recent shoots.  First up is the Barkdull family.  It was my first group photo session, but they made it easy on me :)

A few weeks ago I went on a photo safari with a group I met at meetup.com.  The organizer, Garrett Winslow with www.GoldenWestStudios.com , shared his wisdom and taught me a few new tricks.  He also provided the model - Ryan.  This group is awesome.  If you have DSLR and are looking to take better pictures you should come with me sometime!

We went downtown and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the pretty lights and flowers.  The rest of the photos are of Ryan.

I love this last one with the sunset and lens flare.  I wish there was a little more detail in his face, but overall I'm proud of myself!

I also got to photograph my ADORABLE cousin, Maddie, for her senior pictures.  We had so much fun together!!!

 Maddie you are beautiful and turning into an amazing woman!

Confidence

Chad always teases me and my sisters for being overly-confident.  Not necessarily cocky, just confident.  He isn't even saying it's a fault, more just stating a fact.

I don't disagree.  I am confident.  Sometimes I am too confident.  I think it helps me be happy.  I'm not worried about what other people think.  I don't beat myself up for not being good enough.  I don't think I'm always the best, but I definitely don't think I'm the worst.  Clearly there are things I suck at.  Everyone is bad at something.  I am too.  The difference between me and other people is I don't let that consume me.  I still think I'm awesome.  Think what you want about all of this :)

Moving on...

I hope I can teach my kids to have a certain degree of self-confidence too.  Not egotistical, just sure of themselves.  I thought back to how my parents helped build our confidence.  I have come up with a few answers, but the purpose of this post is to mention two songs my mom used to play. 

The first one is "You are my Sunshine."  Let's review the lyrics:

You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When the skies are grey
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
So please don't take
My sunshine away
The second is "I'm a VIP."  Here's the lyrics:

I'm a V.I.P. in my family,
I'm a V.I.P. you see!
I'm a V.I.P. in my family
And that's a pretty good thing to be!
A Very Important Person,
A Very Important Person,
A Very Important Person
That's ME!

Yeah it's no wonder I have a little confidence to spare :)

Drop Pole Fishing

Vance and Chad had quite the fish story over Labor Day.  I think the story deserves its own post.

 

Vance was fishing with Chad's pole.  Chad doesn't know exactly what happened but Vance dropped his pole in the lake.  The water is murky so once it fell in the lake there was really no hope of recovering it.  Chad never lost his temper (he's the best dad!), but he said Vance got so sad.  He almost started to cry until Chad repeatedly assured him that he wasn't mad.

Now fast forward a little bit.  Logan feels a tug on his line.  He starts reeling it in and then the story really gets good.  My dad can see Logan's bait (which means no fish), but Chad can see a fish at the end of the line. 

Well it turned out Logan didn't catch a fish.  He caught Chad's fishing pole!!!  The cherry on top?  Chad's pole had a fish at the end.  I seriously thought they were lying until all four of them confirmed the story.

Vance has named this fishing technique "drop pole fishing."  Try it out.  I dare ya!

Fruit Snack Sandwich

I have been teaching Vance how to make his own sandwich.  We're trying to encourage him to be independent and this is a small task that I know he is capable of learning. 

 

Tonight for dinner he informed me he would be making his own dinner: a fruit snack, honey, and peanut butter sandwich.  He made it.

He ate it.

He liked it.

1st Day of Preschool

Vance started preschool for the second year.  He was very excited!!!  When I asked him to take a few pictures he got very concerned and informed me he DID NOT want to be late to school.  He continued to tell me that he wanted to be the first one there.  He's a little bit of a teacher's pet :) 

 

This year his teachers are Miss Brittany and Miss Athylie.  We are excited for a change and look forward to all the fun things they have planned for this year.

 I asked Vance a few questions (I plan to do this every year).  Here are the questions and answers written down.

Name: Vance Waldron
Age: 4
Favorite Color: black and red (UNLV baby!)
Best friend: Colton
Favorite animal: lion
What do you want to be when you grow up: a dad
Favorite movie: Beyblades
Favorite book: scriptures
What makes you happy? going to Monster Jam
What makes you sad? people punching my face
Favorite food: pizza
Favorite song: Nephi's Courage
What games do you like to play? Sorry and Curious George Hide-n-Seek
Write your name: see above (red marker)

 Vance we are so excited for another year of preschool.  You're already such a smart boy and I can't wait to see how much more progress you can make this year.  I know you'll win the hearts of your teachers and hopefully make some new friends.  Good luck baby boy!  Remember it's okay to be smart :)

A few extra pictures I made him take this morning :)

Labor Day Weekend

We had a super fun Labor Day weekend camping at Panguitch Lake.  The weekend started with surprises from Grandma and Grandpa.  The Mathewsons got fishing poles and Vance got a special bag for holding the fish after you catch them.  They were all pretty excited.

 

 The weather was beautiful!  It made for such a relaxing weekend.  Keller had fun crawling around in the dirt, playing with the fishing poles on the table, and he even managed to catch a few zzz's while we went on walks around the campground.

 The older boys played with their beyblades for hours.  I was definitely glad we brought them!

 Colton was my game playing buddy.  I am trying to talk somebody into being my photography buddy (hint, hint David!).  Colton was more than happy to play with my small camera.  I think I might be looking for someone a little older though :)

 A fallen tree was the main attraction at camp.  The boys (both young and old) spent hours hacking at it with their axes on Saturday. 

 Here they are talking about logistics and coming up with a strategy to cut all the way through the log.  We thought that would never happen...

 The big boys had fun playing a few round of horseshoes.

 While us girls were more than happy to observe and chit chat!

 Then the older boys joined in the log-cutting and decided they would indeed cut all the way through it.  So they hacked...

 and hacked...

 and hacked.  Finally they decided to take a break.  Keller was excited to have Daddy around.  He was cracking us up playing peek-a-boo in the middle compartment of our chair.

 Amy bought us this silly game call Doggy-Doo.  Basically you win by making the dog poo and collecting 3 pieces of poop.  Charming right?  Well, I hate it but the boys think it's absolutely hilarious.  I think this will be a camping-only game :)

 Speaking of gross boys - Brayden caught a caterpillar.

 Speaking of weird boys brings us back to the log-cutting.  After another solid hour of hardwork Brayden had the hours of making the last cut.  Afterwards we measured the diameter and it was 30 inches!  Even though I don't understand it, I am impressed.

 Future lumberjacks?  Possibly!

 Everyone had worked up quite the appetite so we roasted some marshmallows.

 I had quite the invention: marshmallow wrapped chocolate. It made for a perfectly gooey smore.  Yum!

 The next day was fishing day.  The guys went out on a fishing boat so we tried to keep the kids entertained.  Right by the lake is a fun playground and grassy area that the boys loved.  Keller wasn't sure about the play structure but had fun cruising around with his walker.

 I played frisbee with Vance.  Check out his mouth as he tries to catch it - that's some serious effort!

 Finally it was time for the little boys to go fishin.  To say they were excited would be a huge understatement.

 I was worried they wouldn't catch anything, but they had a great fishing day.  Vance was eagerly holding up 7 fingers as they came back to the dock.  Not too shabby for just a few hours.  Vance put the fish in his new bag and walked up to clean them with Daddy.

 Vance LOVES dead fish.  It is a disgusting fascination, but it's true!  I love the picture where it looks like he is either yelling at the fish or is about to take a giant bite out of it.

 Colton was Vance's partner in crime.  Who needs dolls or cars to play with when you can gave dead fish?

We had great weekend with NO STUDYING FOR CHAD!  It was the first break he has taken in a long time so we did our best to thoroughly enjoy every second we had with him.  We have been missing him, so this weekend is just what we needed!