Curse You, Ice Cream Man

See this picture...


This picture cost me $7.50. Seven dollars & fifty cents...for three ice creams. Ice cream that probably cost the ice cream man 50 cents.

I swear, the ice cream man comes to our neighborhood 2 or 3 times a week, and he ALWAYS seems to stop right in front of our house. We live right in front of a street that ends at a T in front of our house. Kids that live on that street always hear the ice cream man coming up our street & run up to the corner in front of our house to buy stuff from him. That means that his annoying little "Do Your Ears Hang Low" song plays over and over and OVER again right in front of my house. Of course, my kids hear it & then they HAVE to have some ice cream. Several times, I've suggested that we eat one of the many popsicles, ice cream sandwiches or fudge bars that are in our own freezer. Their reply? "Those ones don't taste as good as the ones from the ice cream man!" Sigh...

So, curse you ice cream man for charging me $2.50 for this stupid Batman ice cream pop that Cohen gets every time...


Although, I guess $2.50 is a small price to pay for a blue-stained smile like that. --Lindsay

Eat, Play iPad, Sleep, Repeat

Cohen loves the ipad. Okay, Cohen has a slight obsession with the ipad. Okay, Cohen's life pretty much revolves around the ipad. He knows everything about it. He downloads apps, he watches cartoons on youtube, and is a master at Angry Birds. If I ever have to use the ipad, I usually have to ask Cohen for help. For example, "Cohen, Mommy wants to get on the internet on the ipad. How do I do that?" Within 3 seconds, Cohen has the internet pulled up, ready to go. Ummm...he's not even three-years-old yet. You know you're getting old when your toddler knows the latest technology better than you do.

Well, a few weeks ago, Mike's dad came down to help with the backyard. It was a Saturday, so I had to go to work halfway through the afternoon. After I left, Rick (Mike's Dad) came into the house to get something. When he walked in the door, this is what he saw...


His first thought was that something had happened to Cohen. He ran over to him to figure out what had happened. Then he saw what was in Cohen's hands...


Yep, that's the iPad. And, yes, Cohen has fallen asleep on it...

It must have been a pretty tough level on Angry Birds, that's all I can say. What a funny kid! We love our little technology geek. Next thing I know, he'll probably want his own Facebook account & blog. Heaven help us! --Lindsay

Happy 4th of July!!

This 4th of July was so much fun! We did all our annual traditions...starting bright and early with breakfast at McDonalds. Nothing says, "I'm proud to be an American" like eating at the nastiest place on Earth, right?

Afterwards, we met up with our good friends, the Skinners, to watch the "big" Provo Parade. They are always so sweet to let us crash with them...


Every year, when we go to this parade, I always wonder why we do it. We usually bake in the July sunshine (not this year though...it was actually overcast for most of the parade); the parade organizers won't allow any of the floats throw candy; and you basically just sit there and get advertised to as businesses and politicians pass by. But, the kiddos love it, and it's fun to see the Skinners...who we don't see nearly as much as we'd like to...so I'm sure we'll keep going. Here's Uncle Dan & his little shadows...

Poppy is usually quite vocal at parades. He likes to pick totally random names (Jennifer, Makayla, Samantha, etc.) and yell them out as the beauty queens pass by. He also likes to razz every single politician who passes through that has EVER voted for something he doesn't like. But, he didn't do much of that this year. Maybe he's getting soft in his old age. (Just kidding Poppy!) The only funny thing he did had to do with the Baby Contest winners. When they passed by us, Poppy jumped up, grabbed Cohen & just joined the parade along with the winners, as if Cohen had won. We all got a good laugh out of it...

The boys loved, loved, LOVED it when the Star Wars characters came along though...

My mom, Kristin, Amanda & I all walked around the bizarre to kill some time in the middle of the parade & I was able to find some super cute bows for Viv there...so I guess, all-in-all, the parade wasn't that bad.

After the parade, we all came back to our house to hang out & have a barbecue. The kiddos got the kiddie pool & the slip-n-slide out first & had fun doing that for quite a while, despite the fact that it was still cloudy & slightly cool. By the way, that monstrosity in the background is our partially completed fire pit. More on that in just a second...

While the kiddos played, the rest of just sat around & chatted, and cuddled Vivvie Girl of course...

She's so patriotic...

After the kids finished swimming, it was on to a rousing game of Bocci Ball...

And trampoline "routines". These were pretty hilarious. Kristin, Dan & the boys all made up their own routine of trampoline tricks. Then Nana & I had to judge them. It was...entertaining...to say the least...

After that, we had a yummy barbecue, but I didn't take any pictures of that because I was too busy stuffing my face.

Later that evening, we cooked s'mores around the partially competed fire pit...in the rain. Seriously, what was up with this wacky 4th of July weather? It hardly ever rains here on the 4th of July...

Okay, so this is the partially completed fire pit. It has been Mike's project over the past few weeks. He ran the natural gas line, did all the stonework that you see on the ground & put together the walls of the fire pit. He basically was able to get it to the point where it was usable, but not very pretty. Eventually, the rock that you see on the ground will cover up the cinder blocks on the fire pit walls to make it pretty. The natural gas ring will come down several inches & will be covered up by lava rock. The lava rock will make the flames look more natural. So, I'll do another post when it's all done so you can see the before & after. Even though it wasn't completely done yet, it was still fun to make s'mores in our backyard...and to not smell like campfire afterwards!

Once we finished our s'mores, we headed to Kristin & Dan's house to light off fireworks. We couldn't light them off at our house because the state has designated our area as a "Urban Wildlife Interface" (whatever the crap that means) and so fireworks are banned all the time. Lame-O! So, we drove down the mountain to Kristin & Dan's house and lit fireworks off there. First, we did your standard normal fireworks...

And then we lit off the one areal firework that we bought this year. This is the first year that these kind of fireworks have been legal in Utah, so I figured we HAD to buy one. I got the cheapest one I could find, which was still $13. Guess how long it lasted? Approximately...12 seconds! That's more than a dollar per second! Can you say RIP OFF?!? Here's the only picture of the areal firework that any of us got. Does that look like it's worth $13 to you? I think not...

Kristin & Dan have a pretty good view of the entire valley from their front yard, so we were able to see areal fireworks going off all around us. We decided that next year, we're not going to waste our money on the areal fireworks. We're just going to watch everyone else waste their money.

After fireworks, we drove back up the mountain & watched the Thanksgiving Point fireworks show & then took everyone home for a good night sleep!

It was a fun 4th of July! Happy birthday U.S.A. Thanks for being the greatest country in the world! I am so thankful to be an American & to have the freedom to do what I want to do, say what I want to say, and think what I want to think! God bless America! --Lindsay

Dear Vivvie #4

Dear Vivvie,

Well, here's your four-month letter, but as you can tell by the date...it's a tad late. I swear, one of these days, life will slow down & I'll be able to get things done when they're supposed to get done. In the meantime, plan on things being a little late.

I can't believe you are four-months-old already! Where is this year going? We took you to the doctor for your four-month checkup the other day. Here are your stats:

Length: 23 inches (17th percentile)

Weight: 12 lbs. 8 oz. (27th percentile)

Head Circumference: 40.5 cm (45th percentile)

So, to sum up, you're still a very petite little girl, and super cute too. Exhibit A:

A funny thing happened when we were at the doctor this time. All your brothers came along for this visit (what a joy, right?). As the doctor was examining you, he began to push on your abdomen to feel your organs. When he started doing this, Aiden jumped up off his chair, ran over to the doctor, ripped his hands off your tummy & yelled, "Don't do that! You'll hurt her!" Haha! We all got a good laugh out of it & then explained to Aiden that the doctor knew what he was doing & that it was okay. Aiden went back to his chair, but he kept a close watch on what the doctor was doing to make sure you were okay. What a cute little bodyguard he is! All your brothers are very protective of you. Heaven help your future boyfriends!

Speaking of your brothers, sometimes they love you a little too much...to the point where they are almost mauling you to death. Cohen is the biggest culprit in this department. He's always "helping" you in one way or another...like taking your binky out of your mouth & then putting it back in upside down. You are so good natured through it all. You just take it all in stride, smiling the whole time. I can tell you love your brothers as much as they love you.


You have seriously turned into such an angel baby over the past few months. You smile all the time. You eat great. You put yourself to sleep. You take three great naps a day. You sleep at least 8 hours every night. I seriously couldn't ask for a better baby. In fact, I've had several friends tell me that they would have another baby if they got a guarantee that their baby would be as easy-going & angelic as you. By the way, I'd really appreciate it if you would stay this cooperative into your teenage years, thank you very much.

You haven't been spitting up nearly as much lately. The laundry lady thanks you for this. Oh wait, that laundry lady would be me. I thank you for this. It has made my job much easier.

But, I'm pretty sure you've just replaced the spit up with drool. Seriously girl, it's not cool when the front of your shirt is soaking wet 5 minutes after I dress you. All of you kids have been big droolers. We always swear that it means you must be teething...but the teeth don't come for months. For some reason, the Storrs babies just have overactive spit glands or something.

You continue to amaze us with your "superbaby" qualities. You can sit by yourself for about 5 seconds before you topple over & you can stand by yourself if you hold on to someones fingers. I can't believe you're doing all this at only four-months-old. I really don't think your brothers did this kind of stuff until they were several months older. But, shhhhhhh, don't tell them that.

You already like to play with toys. You don't really grab for them yet, but if someone hands a toy to you, you will play with it for several minutes. You turn them around in your hand and study them like crazy. You love anything that makes noise...tissue paper is one of your favorites. And, apparently, it tastes good too.

We have heard a few little laughs out of you, but we're still waiting for a huge belly laugh. Your brothers have turned into the three stooges lately to try to get a big laugh out of you...but still nothing. You just look at them with a huge grin on your face.

We've decided that you're going to be a talker because you appear to LOVE the sound of your own voice. You will sit and babble on to yourself all day long. You will coo, make grunting sounds, or just let out a big "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" from time to time. You seem to be quite impressed with your ability to make noise & do it quite often.

Vivvie girl, we love you so much! You are such a great addition to our family. Dad & I are always looking at each other & saying, "How did we ever survive without her?" You are so cute & amazing! Thanks for being our little caboose! I love you!! --Mom