One Fine Week

I'm really starting to feel the crunch to get things done as I get bigger and bigger and the end of this pregnancy is nearing.  Only a few weeks left before our family of 4 becomes a family of 5 and Brett and I will officially be outnumbered.  There are moments where I feel very stressed when I think about what there is left to do still before Little Man #3 comes along, but overall I feel at peace.  Half of my to do list is done and I'm hoping to complete the rest in the next couple of week (cross my fingers).  With September coming up this week I ought to pack a hospital bag and get babies clothes out of storage and washed.  The 21st will sneak up on us quickly and I really hope that the little dude doesn't decide to come early:).  One of the things we were planning on getting just before the baby came was a MonsterSac for the boys to have fun with and give a little more seating in our basement.  The fun has begun and they can't get enough of the 'fluffy couch'.  

 We had a ward social this weekend that was a blast!  We spent some time on tubes and Hryum LOVED it!!! He kept begging to go faster and faster.  He rode on a tube with one of our cute Young Women and would have loved to stay on all day long.  Noah, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind it too much but had no desire to go back on.  Evidently it was too noisy for him, because he insisted on covering his ears the whole time.  The wave-runner was also really fun, but most of the fun was had by Brett. . . ok, I went on it too. .  weeee!

I feel so blessed to have a flourishing garden this year.  The boys really love spending time checking on the plants and picking the zucchini, strawberries, and raspberries.  We've probably had close to a dozen zucchini now.  Hyrum and Noah both take turns peeling and shredding the zucchini to make goodies.  We've frozen enough to sustain us through the winter and have made lots of goodies.  I really love eating the fruits of our labors.   Hyrum wanted to show the camera his work:)

  Yes, the picture is a little bit blurry, but I haven't updated my huge belly for a while.  So this is me at 35 1/2 weeks!  This will probably be the last update picture before baby time is go for launch.

Beginnings

 Today was Hyrum's first day of Preschool!  It was perfect.  I'm really excited for the friends he'll make, the things he'll learn, and the change of environment that will feed his curiosity about the world.  Finding the right fit of a preschool for him was a little scary when we were looking into several options last year, but we are very happy with where he's going.  He is one of 12 students in his classroom.  He has his own cubby that he picked out (with a red bear, because red is his favorite color).  He has his own special school bag/tote that he will take with him every school day.  He also loves talking about how he goes to the 'apple school', because it has a picture of a large apple on the front.  This is the perfect time for him to explore his independence and do something all by himself.  Noah is also using this time without Hyrum around to further explore his independence (not that he had a problem with that before).  Today after we took Hyrum to school we came back home and I hopped in the shower.  Noah decided to get out the container of muffins in the fridge, eat off all the frosting on them, and then place the bare muffins back in the container in the fridge.  I could write a book of all the mischievous things he does when he knows no one is watching.  Anyway,  it will be a fun year and I'm happy for Hyrum and also for the alone time I will be able to spend with my little sneak too:).  

In other Hyrum happenings: our Primary is getting ready for the next Primary Program and sent us home with a little question-air for us to fill out with Hyrum.  They asked us to just write down what he answered honestly.  This was a really fun thing to do and to listen to the things he said and how he responded.  Some of the answers crack me up, but I was really impressed by his understanding.  Enjoy!:

Q: Why is it important to make a plan and follow it?

A: "Because we can make good choices"

Q: Where can we find Heavenly Father's plan for us?

A: "Outer space"

Q: Who are you?

A: "Hyrum"

Q: Where did you come from?

A: "uhh, from Wal Mart. . . from my house: Hyrum's house"

Q: Why are you here, on earth?

A: "because Jesus is in space and he doesn't want our bodies to disappear"

Q: What will happen to us after we die?

A: "We go under ground and someone will write my name on a stone.  Then my spirit will go to outer space with Jesus Christ and maybe Heavenly Father."

Q: What is one thing Jesus created that is important to you?

A: "Our house.  The earth."

Q: Why are families so important in Heavenly Father's plan?

A: "Because they love each other and do nice things, and then we can be together forever."

Q: How do you feel when you keep the commandments?

A: "Happy! Happy! Happy!"

Q: How can you follow God's plan?

A:  "Making good choices and doing good things, use scripture power to win against Sati. . . (I think he forgot his name)uh, against mean guys." 

Things to Learn

Saturdays have been full of projects lately and it's been great to get things checked off my To Do list before the baby comes in just over a month!  This last Saturday afternoon was dedicated to projects and the boys were our little helpers.  Brett was in the basement fixing our internet and I was up in the boys room mounting a bookshelf.  Hyrum was going back and forth between Brett and I.  For a while Hyrum left me and it was just Noah and I.  Noah and I had some great bonding time and after the bookcase was hung I read to him several of the books that I was attempting to organize.  Things seemed to be pretty quiet downstairs, but I could hear Brett talking to Hyrum on the main floor so we ventured to see what they were up to.  I came to find out that Brett thought  Hyrum was with me and I thought he was with Brett, but he was in fact getting acquainted with some of my quilting things by himself.   He had watched me use my rotary blade tool that morning.  I had told him very sternly that morning that they were not aloud to touch it because it was very dangerous, and that is why we kept it behind a locked door.  However, with Brett working on the internet the door was open and he quietly went in and was trying to help me cut out the fabric I hadn't finished cutting out that morning.  He cut his finger.  He was bleeding.  He snuck upstairs without us knowing any of this was going on, and wrapped his finger in some toilet paper and a paper towel, and then hid under the kitchen table.  We don't know how long he was under there when Brett found him hiding.  He was acting very ashamed and told Brett that he was hiding because he didn't want us to know he got hurt using my tool.  I'm sure you can imagine the long talk we had with him right then and have had with him a few times since.  It made me heartbroken to think of him hiding under the table, hurt, and ashamed and afraid to talk to us.  I hope he never feels that way again.  Over the past few days I've thought about this incidence over and over again.  It's incredible how it takes a child to help us see our own inadequacies.  I can't help but imagine myself in Hyrum's position at various points in my life.  I thought I knew better.  I thought the warnings or the rules were not for me, or that I didn't need them.  I thought the results would be different.  No matter what the reason may have been, the warnings were there, and they were ignored.  That's when I hide, feel ashamed, hope no one finds out, and cover my tracks.  How heartbreaking it must be for my Father in Heaven to see his child like this.  He would want me to come and get help; feel sorrow and admit my fault, but then allow him to hold me and make me feel better.  Why is it so hard for us to see ourselves as being no different from a small child with a cut hiding under a table.  Standing back we see how ridiculous it is for us to deny our mistakes and shortcomings when someone is there to help and comfort us.  The healing power of the Atonement is a beautiful thing available to all of us, but we must be willing to get out from under the table and face the hurt.  I love my little boys so much and hope that they never feel when they have done wrong or are hurt that they must face it alone.  My arms are always open for my boys and I know that my God's arms are open to us all.   

What a Week!

     Hyrum started his first week of Tot Soccer for the season.  He did the same program last year and spent a lot of the time during games crying, looking for bugs, or just running around in circles.  It's amazing what one year can do!  He knows what's going on now and understands directions from his coach.  He even scored a goal that he was so proud of!  We're so glad our city puts on this program for little people, because it gives him a chance to learn how to work with a team and follow directions.  I'm excited to see all his practices and games for the next 6 weeks!  

he likes to do a lot of the runs with his buddy Camryn (little blonde girl )

On Friday we decided to go on a little family date to a real Farmers Market - meaning it was actually on a farm.  The family put in some fun activities for little people to play on around their farm.  The boys had a blast on the make-shift slides.  Brett went down the 'big one' once.  But, when he rammed into two little kids that were hanging out on the end, he decided it was probably just meant for kids.:)  We also got to go into some of the pins where the animals were and feed them. They saw a sheep that was just born a few hours before we got there. The pony rides were a little slow for our cowboys, but they were naturals on the ride.  

Today was this seasons first BYU scrimmage practice.  Brett took the boys to join in the fun (I joined them a little later).  I think the boys were most excited about the pop and popcorn, but it was still fun for them to go.  They were in the 7th row back from the players and Dad loved being so close to his sports-crush. 

Kitchen Remodel

    This has been a long time in the making, (literally months!) but our kitchen is finally complete!  When we were first looking at houses about 2 1/2 years ago I was almost due with Noah and didn't want to waste my energy looking at a house that didn't excite me in the pictures.  This house was one of those 'blah' houses because of the kitchen.  I love spending time in the kitchen and I hated the picture.  Brett convinced me to overlook the kitchen and just take a look.  I fell in love (minus the kitchen of course).  We decided that we would agree to plan a little fixing up to make it more of a happy place for me to be in.  This was the year!

Here's what we did:

  The counter-tops were laminate now they are granite.  The sink is now twice as deep as it once was and I'm much happier with our new faucet. The cabinets were black and now they are antiqued-white.  We replaced all the doors with new ones that were already a glazed white.  We painted the base and upper cabinet frames white and tediously hand glazed them to match the doors.  Brett installed new lights.  Upon removing the old ones he discovered they were only being held in by two small screws and easily could have fallen on our heads at any moment, so he installed the new lights properly.  What once was wall now has a tile back-splash.  All the knobs and pulls are different and just what I want now. Brett and I love projects, and this one definitely taught us a lot for future projects: some things are worth paying the extra money to have someone else do them, shopping around and asking for discounts is great, don't remove the doors until the replacements are ready to install, and a beautiful kitchen = a happy women!  Oh, and someday I need to learn how to take good indoor pictures, I can never seem to get them sharp looking.  Just use your imagination or come on over and take a peak if you want.:)

During the whole lighting exchange we also put in some ceiling fans in our living room.  Brett is super handy and did a lot of work.  Props go to the man that does the work and pays the bills too!  Thank you Brett for my best Birthday, Christmas, Hannakah, Valentines Day. . . present ever!!!!

Here is our kitchen mid-remodel.  Yes, our kitchen looked just like this for almost 2 months without doors.  Very convenient, but also kind of annoying for the world to see everything we keep in our cupboards (I did invest in a few baskets for smaller things to make it look a little less scary)

And here's the grand finale:

BEFORE

AFTER
(You can't really see the antiquing in my pictures.  I love having the glaze on there though, because it hides spills and dirt that the boys make on a daily basis)

BEFORE
(Our sink was really shallow and so after eating breakfast it would look like we had a loud of dishes to do.  Our faucet was also so low that we could never really fill up any of our pitchers.)

AFTER
(Believe it or not, there were actually 3 cereal bowls, two large cups, and a vase in the sink while I took this picture.  Ahhhh, I love deep sinks for hiding stuff:)

I love how everything turned out and I am SOOO excited to finally cross of my first thing on my Baby Boy countdown to-do list!

Now Brett and the boys have started our next project to cross off my list. . . I'll keep you posted:)

The Rushtons are coming - Second Edition

 We were able to spend Saturday and Sunday with the family too.  On Saturday we got to see my oldest sister, Holly's, new home.  It's gorgeous!  It also has the most amazing views and landscaping.  The boys had so much fun exploring and playing.  Hyrum was in a serious pillow fight match in the basement with his cousins, which always bring about some kind of injury.  He just tweaked his wrist a little bit so I brought him to Grandpa for his 'magical owie fixing'.  I remember my Dad doing this to me when I was younger.  He would get really serious and then rub his hands together really fast for a long time (yep, right out of Karate Kid) then put his hand ontop of the owie.  Suddenly everything was better.  Hyrum thought it was really cool and kept talking about Grandpa's magic.  (Later Noah hurt his lip and Hyrum tried to do the same thing and put his hand over Noah's mouth - that didn't go over quite as well:))

The boys spent a considerable amount of time on their trampoline.  I have some major jump-aholics in the making.  They loved playing with their cousins and running around their new big back yard.

On Saturday night we went to the Cherry Hill water park.  It was a blast!  The kids had so much fun on the lazy river and the pirate ship pool.  I didn't get any pictures, because I was in the water or wet the whole time.  I was really glad that my sister got a few to prove that we went.  We were in the water during this first picture, but this is my family for you - taking the water park by storm.

There was no better way to end this reunion than visiting Temple Square.  We attended a ward that met in the Joseph Smith Building in an amazingly brilliant room.  Everything was so beautiful and reminded of us being inside the temple.  As we sat down we realized that in front of us we could see Elder Oaks behind the stand. It was a very small ward with mostly elderly people attending, and so I can honestly say that at some point during the meeting Elder Oaks heard each of the Rushton children seated:) He was nice enough to stick around after the meeting to talk to everyone, shake hands, give hugs, etc.  When he shook hands with our boys he said they looked like great future missionaries.  When we were in the hall area Elder Oaks was talking to several different people.  We all decided to get together on some steps behind where he was standing and be 'pose' ready.  My Dad then tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he would mind turning and facing the camera for a picture.  He looked at all of us with a little surprised face and said that he couldn't just stand in front us us all, and he would much rather get in the middle. 

The Rushtons are coming! The Rushtons are coming!

 As if Hawaii and Georgia weren't fun enough we fit a family reunion in too!  :)

On the first day of the reunion we met at the Uinta National Forest (just minutes away from our house) for hikes, crafts, and outdoor play time.  The kids seemed to have a lot of fun.  The 'older' kids got into an intense game of monopoly while the younger ones enjoyed the crafts and exploring the forest. 

I love that my boys will all have cousins right around the same age to play with on both sides of the family.

 Hyrum really LOVES going on hikes, so he kept stealing Grandma to take him on hikes on the trails around our site. He even brought his magnifying glass to investigate the rocks.

We had a delicious lunch with the traditional Rushton sandwich (bread, peanut butter, chocolate chips) and afterward roasting marshmallows over the fire. Hyrum never wanted to eat the marshmallows, but he LOVED burning them to a crisp and then watching them bubble up and melt over the fire. 

That afternoon everyone went to the Lindon Aquatics Center and had a blast, however my boys decided to sleep until after 4.  The naps were much needed and made the evening with everyone much more enjoyable.  Everyone came to our place afterward for a yummy BBQ and visiting.