Fun in Kentucky

Sometimes it takes a visit from someone outside your state to help you really appreciate all the fun things you have just around the corner. My sister Sara, her husband Bryce and new little chihuahua/poodle came to visit us on their move out East. It was so wonderful to see them again (she was my partner in crime on our backpacking trip across Europe a few years ago). We really had quite a busy week traveling around seeing some of the sights and helped me remember what fun things there really are to do around here. Grant loved playing with the little dog but other boys are definitely NOT ready for a pet!

Her husband is a big baseball fan so our first stop was the slugger museum. It was fun even though we had just gone on Saturday. The factory tour was actually better this time because there were people working so we got to see them hand turn a bat and see the workers in action. I batted again and discovered that fast pitch softball is much easier than fast pitch baseball (you can see the ball when it's bigger!) Grant loved swinging his little bat around.

   

 

Then we went to the Louisville Science Center right across the street. And we all got in free! Our science center has a family pass but it's over $100. However, just 100 miles away in Owensboro there is a museum with a family pass for only $40 and they belong to the ASTC Passport Program. The catch is you can only get in free to museums that are 90 miles away (as the crow flies) from your home museum. So I bought mine online (didn't actually have to drive the 90 miles to Owensboro) and now I can take my family to the science center here for free (and when we go back to Utah we'll be able to get into the planetarium and gateway for free). The boys had so much fun playing with everything and the best part was I didn't have to clean up the mess!

   

    

We went to Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville. It is so green and lush this time of year and such a beautiful place to walk around. We played in the rain, went up to Churchill Downs and watched a few horse races, Grant passed out at the restaurant and slept the entire time... We sat by the Ohio River to watch the sun set then hiked the brutally steep hill at Fort Duffield for an even more beautiful view. Bryce caught a frog and Grant laughed hysterically every time it hopped. It was so funny.

  

 

  

  

 

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Artist

Monday is art day and Ethan loves to paint. Here are some of his latest creations...his family, fireworks and dots "like Vashti" (from The Dot).

   

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a Wonderful Weekend...

Happy Mother's day to all you hardworking moms and to all you who want so much to be a mom! There is no greater purpose in life than to help mold and shape the character of little people who are the future of our world. 

We had a great weekend (warning: this is a really long post!). Anthony got off work early Friday so we went for a hike through the woods near our home. We saw lots of butterflies and little frogs. The boys love being outdoors and hiking is one of their favorite things. The last picture (bottom right) makes me laugh. Joshua is potty trained now but refuses to #2 on the toilet. I gave him some prunes so that he would have no choice, but then we spontaneously decided to go hiking. So...on the way back he had an accident...Anthony got a stick and strung his clothes on them so he could carry them back to the car. He looked like a little hobo, we couldn't stop laughing.

Saturday was our stake temple day so we took turns doing ordinances. It was awesome. I love the temple! I took this picture of the Louisville temple last year. You are welcome to download it for personal use.

After the temple we drove downtown. Joshua really wanted to go over the bridge and was so excited so we drove across to humor him. They have these beautiful murals on the Jeffersontown side. Our next destination was the Louisville Science Center, but apparently they have a box at the derby because it was closed. But fortunately right across the street was the Louisville Slugger Museum which we've been wanting to go to ever since we moved here. So we headed on over and had such a fun time! We really lucked out too- they let Anthony in free because he's military, the boys were all free and I was only $6! We went on the factory tour which was actually quite fascinating and we each received a little bat at the end. The boys had fun in the museum and especially in the little kids area where they could hit a ball off the tee. Anthony and I had fun in the real batting cages too (my arms were sore this morning- my first time hitting fast pitch!). We really had a great time and the boys enjoyed every minute of it. The lady in the batting cages brought us another three bats for the boys which had the emblem of the Lousiville Bats on it. So 8 bats in all, four rounds of batting cages, a museum, movie, factory tour, fun for the kids and all for only $10. I highly recommend it, especially for military families. You can see in the picture below just how tall the bat outside the museum is, pretty impressive. And yes, I forgot my camera again, all these pics are with my iPhone...

I've been wanting to take the boys on the mile skywalk system that goes through downtown for a while so we decided to do it after the museum. I have never been in a downtown area so deserted on a Saturday before (I guess the infield for Derby must have been pretty packed).  The boys love running through the skywalk tunnels though and looking down on the street below. We went to the end by the Galt House Hotel and saw the handprints of the Derby winners. Then walked down to the river. It's kind of hard to see but I took a picture of what was part of the waterfront a few weeks ago but is now covered with mud and tree limbs. We walked down to Joe's Crab Shack where we had a yummy dinner. I ate ribs while the boys enjoyed their lobster bucket (I even tried some and didn't hate it). Came home, put the boys to bed and read a good book with my husband. It was a great day. We're going to miss Louisville, it was kind of sad to think these are our last few months here!

Then my sweet boys and husband gave me this cute little card, a lovely dress from one of my favorite modest clothing companies Mikarose  (my other favorite is Shabby Apple) and lots of hugs and kisses. I love my family!

   

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I eat, therefore I run

Saturday my husband and I ran in the Derby marathon. I ran the 1/2 marathon and he ran the full. He was kind enough to run slow with me for the first eight miles and (then managed to complete the last 18 miles in about the same time as it took me to run the first eight).

I did manage to beat my time from January by 10 minutes to 2:45. I was happy because the longest training run I did was 6 miles (it gets a little boring running that long on the treadmill).

The first 4 miles are the hardest for me. Once I get past that I feel like I could pretty much go forever but that first stretch is sheer torture. I was asking myself why on earth am I doing this for a third time? Then I remembered... oh yes, it's because I love to eat things like this and this and especially this. Running when you're thirty is no longer just a fun thing to do, it's a necessity.

I even managed to sign myself up for a full marathon this fall. They said it's all downhill. I hope so. I didn't realize at the time though that I would have to be training in the summer. In Kentucky. Where it's HOT and HUMID. This is going to be so much fun...

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Baby Mia

Isn't she precious? I love photographing newborns! And yay, they finally cancelled the tornado watch so I can sleep in my own bed tonight!

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Happy Easter!

It was a very rainy Easter weekend here. We decorated eggs and had our hunt indoors but the boys still had lots of fun. Grant wasn't interested at all in collecting eggs once he figured out there were goodies inside...

  

  

I made this delicious roasted chicken (my first one ever!)

But of course the most important thing was celebrating Jesus's resurrection.

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100

Ethan enjoys working on his math every day, we are using the Math U See books which we absolutely love. His exercises this week was to skip count by tens and write from 1 to 100. He was so proud of himself when he finished writing each number from 1 to 100 (and I was too). Not bad for a 4 1/2 year old!

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Easter Countdown

I found this adorable Easter countdown idea and just love it! The cards are available as a printable .pdf from Chocolate on my Cranium. They include scriptures and questions to discuss for each day which are great to include in your daily devotional/scripture study or could also be a great Family Home Evening lesson. If you follow her blog you'll also get a fun object lesson to go along with each one. A great way to feel the spirit of Easter!

And speaking of chocolate... I just posted these yummy double chocolate cookies on my food blog. They are soooo yummy!

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Schmutz Family

I got to take this family's pictures over the weekend. They have two gorgeous little girls!

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Conference weekend cont...

Just realized I hadn't posted these pictures from Sunday. We went to the church for the morning session of conference and Joshua and Grant started holding hands in the car, and now do so every time they're in the car, it's so cute.

 They painted some birdhouses that we got earlier in the week and were excited to hang them up.

 

 And this is how we kept them occupied most of the time. The only way to watch in peace and quiet...(we traded our lush grass for lumpy dirt, but the boys don't seem to mind a bit)

Conference weekend

I love conference weekend! It's so nice spend an entire weekend together without any meetings or other obligations (including Sunday)! We started some herb seeds in the morning, shot off the boys' new rocket and of course listened to conference. I particularly enjoyed the talks by Elder Cook and Elder Maynes. Loved the poem quoted in Elder Maynes talk about the importance of parents leading and teaching children. Can't wait for tomorrow's talks!

Twas a sheep not a lamb that strayed away

In the parable Jesus told,

A grown-up sheep that strayed away

From the ninety and nine in the fold.

And why for the sheep should we seek

And earnestly hope and pray?

Because there is danger when sheep go wrong;

They lead the lambs astray.

Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray.
When sheep go wrong, it won’t take long

Til the lambs are as wrong as they.

And so with the sheep we earnestly plead

For the sake of the lambs today,

For when sheep are lost, what a terrible cost

The lambs will have to pay!

-C. C. Miller

April Fools!

I played a few tricks on the boys...and an accidental trick on myself...

Joshua has been oreo cookie snatching all week so I took the remaining two cookies, scooped out the filling and replaced it with toothpaste. He snatched one before I even got up this morning and didn't seem to mind the toothpaste flavor, so it kind of backfired... I bumped my clock last night and didn't think much of it until I was awakened at 5:30 this morning to something slightly resembling a fire alarm. I guess I deserved it...

I put two bowls of cereal in the freezer last night and put them at the table this morning and put colored water in their cups. Ethan kept saying "why is this so hard?" as he tried to pull his spoon up, Joshua's came completely out of the bowl and he had this perplexed look on his face as he held it up in the air.

For dinner I made "cupcakes" which were really meatloaf with mashed potatoes. I have to get in all the tricks I can before they're old enough to play them on me...

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Adorable babies...

We had a photo playdate and I got to shoot these little cuties, aren't they so adorable?

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Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Just added this tasty recipe to my food blog. It's sooo yummy!

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The Mormon Channel

Are you listening to this? If not you seriously need to check it out. 

You can listen online or download the free app to your iphone. I listen to these all day long as I'm cleaning or running around and they are absolutely amazing.

These are awesome programs to help inspire, motivate and strengthen. If you think your trials are too hard to bear- listen to Enduring it Well. If you need some encouragement and motivation, listen to Conversations. What a great way to learn from members and leaders of our church and invite the spirit into our homes.


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